The Spanish TV channel TeleMadrid recently aired on its program, “Salud al Día,”, which looks at the latest news on health, a report on the use of VirtualRehab and how it is improving the treatment of stroke and Parkinson’s in two centers in Madrid.
The premise of the report was to show how videogames are no longer just for kids and are now being actively used as a means of providing intensive therapy to persons undergoing some type of neurorehabilitation. The report focussed on the treatment of Parksion’s and stroke in two rehabilitation centers in Madrid.
David Fried, CEO of Evolv explained how VirtualRehab came about, with the idea of developing games that were fun yet therapeutic at the same time. He also spoke of the benefit of being able to personalize the games to each individual’s ability.
In the interview with Marta Burgos, who is responsible for innovation at the Parkinson’s Madrid center, she commented “The objective is to work in a much more engaging way with the patient. Some of the aspects of physiotherapy can also be gamified. What this means is they can use gaming part as well as the motivation part. By doing so, this leads to adherence to treatment.”
In this sense José López, founder and CEO of the Europe Center for Neurosciences, agrees with Marta that VirtualRehab provides an extra dose of motivation for the patient, and adds that people “often become bored of more classic exercises, so we can add more variety to the training”. With all this, VirtualRehab helps in increasing adherence to treatment and allows users to have access to a greater range of exercises.
In addition to being used for stroke and Parkinson’s rehabilitation, VirtualRehab is being used around the world for the rehabilitation of Multiple Sclerosis, acquired brain damage, and orthopedic and geriatric conditions among others, by helping to increase the dose and intensity of the therapy through virtual reality and games. VirtualRehab is used in clinical settings, residences and day centers, as well as at home through telerehabilitation services.