Rehab Games as Components of Workflow: A Case Study

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Game Design

Background:

• Rehabilitation games offer potential benefits for patient engagement and therapeutic outcomes.
• Integrating novel technologies into existing clinical workflows can be complex.
• Universal design principles are crucial for ensuring accessibility and usability in assistive technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore and evaluate the integration of rehabilitation games into the therapy workflow.
• To assess the feasibility and challenges of using an interactive therapy platform with Microsoft Kinect for Windows in rehabilitation settings.

Main Methods:

• A multistage, multimethod study involving a formative study with approximately 90 therapists, a pilot study in an inpatient facility, and heuristic evaluation based on universal design principles.
• Development of an interactive therapy platform utilizing Microsoft Kinect for Windows.
• Data collection through observations, interviews, and heuristic evaluation.

Main Results:

• The interactive rehabilitation system demonstrated overall appeal among both patients and therapists.
• Significant challenges were identified regarding the seamless integration of the rehabilitation gaming system into the established therapy workflow.
• Heuristic evaluation confirmed the applicability of universal design principles to the developed platform.

Conclusions:

• Rehabilitation games show significant appeal and potential impact, aligning with findings from similar studies.
• The study highlights the need for institutional and public policy changes to facilitate the adoption of games in medical rehabilitation.
• Successful integration requires addressing workflow challenges and leveraging universal design principles.