It´s very important for us at Virtualware to have the opinion and point of view of the professionals who use VirtualRehab, as they plan the therapies and have direct contact with patients and are able to evaluate their progress.
We had a chat with Erika Otxoa, who is in charge of the physiotherapy service of the Vizcaya Mulitple Sclerosis Association in northern Spain, and coordinates physiotherapy services in the Eugenia Eplaza Rehabilitation centre and in the Urizartorre residence. Erika was involved in the initial design, development and validation of VirtualRehab. Here are some of her comments on her personal experience with using VirtualRehab.
Which advantages are offered by VirtualRehab as a rehabilitation tool compared to other traditional techniques
VirtualRehab offers some advantages which arent possible with traditional rehabilitation by itself. It provides the patient with greater motivation, as they tell us that when they are using VirtualRehab they stop thinking about the disease as they have to fully concentrate on the game. They are tired of seeing their physical limitations that are evident during physiotherapy, and that when they are playing the game they forget about their disease. We see greater adherence to the treatment which leads to reaching objectives in a more entertaining manner.
And last but not at least, we also have a tracking and evaluation of the exercises. I would like to make clear that VirtualRehab is a complement therapy, and is not a substitute of traditional rehabilitation.
What do the patients think about using VirtualRehab?
As I said before, patients are enthusiastic with the incorporation of VirtualRehab, and most of them feel that the therapy is more entertaining and motivates them more to do their rehabilitation.
How is VirtualRehab helping you to program and prepare therapy sessions?
The therapy sessions are prepared basically the same way, but what we have now is a very important tool in order to work on the different symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, such as loss of balance, lack of sense of ones body, proprioception and fatigue.
Which is your opinion about the ease of use of VirtualRehab for therapists?
At the beginning of this project, I was the probably the most reluctant to use this type of multimedia technology for rehabilitation because of my personal bad experiences with new tecnologies. You always think, first it´s going to be very complicated, and second, what is a game to do that we can’t achieve through therapy? But then you think about it, reconsider and realize that if our objective is to improve the quality of life of our patients, then we need to use all the tools that are available to us. It’s not a question of replacing anything, but to complement. And that’s what we did, and our experience shows that VirtualRehab is a viable, comfortable and simple to use tool.
Is there any element of the product you consider is relevant or interesting from a specialists point of view?
The results obtained from a study of 20 patients with MS were satisfactory and positive when using it as a therapy complement. In order to distinguish it from other games being used in the market, I would say that VirtualRehab offers a therapy configurator where physiotherapists can create tailor-made games and individualize therapies for each patient, depending on their motor and cognitive capacity.