Originally Posted At: http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/04/seniors-get-back-in-the-game/
Wii embraced by elder care centers
John Curran ASSOCIATED PRESS
BETHEL, Vt.
There’s no bowling alley in the airy basement room where Gifford Medical Center runs its adult day program. That’s OK.
Sylvia Hook is throwing strikes, and at 65, she feels like a kid again.
Mrs. Hook grasps a white remote in her hand, pulls her arm back and then swings it forward with an underhand motion, as if she’s rolling a bowling ball. Thanks to Nintendo Wii, she is: On the 42-inch Sylvania flat-screen TV in front of her, a blue ball rolls down a virtual alley.
“Got it, got it, got it.” The quiet voice of encouragement comes from 55-year-old Marla Maskell, who is seated in a wheelchair next to Mrs. Hook, her voice competing with the noise from a six-person bingo game being played at a folding table nearby.
Almost, but not quite: Only six pins drop.
Chalk it up to rust. It’s been 40 years since Mrs. Hook actually went bowling. She uses a cane to walk now, because of hip problems. But she doesn’t even have to stand up to bowl this way.
“I’m afraid of computers, but it doesn’t seem like that’s what you’re doing. It’s wonderful. You can bowl without going out to bowl,” she said.
Forget Tuesday afternoon bridge: Wii’s the new game for folks of a certain age. Or handicap.
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