Stroke affects a person in many ways, depending upon the severity. It leaves the patient paralyzed, unable to perform daily activities un-assisted, or damages a part of the brain, affecting memory, slurred speech, etc. Also, a paralyzed limb can take a long time to regain some strength or sometimes remains dysfunctional forever. Unfortunately, the Black population is impacted more due to stroke. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Black people are twice as likely affected by stroke as white people. Without specialized medical care, the Black population is 70 percent more at risk of death due to stroke than the white population.
Therapy for stroke requires several office visits or many sessions with a therapist at home to encourage physical and mental exercises. Our brain can overcome some damage by re-assigning the tasks from damaged to unaffected areas in due course. Gaming is an integral component of rehabilitation upon stroke. Several studies have shown that playing games makes the healing process much faster. The Black population feels challenged to receive the right kind of in-office therapy upon stroke. However, they can easily participate in gaming activities for a faster healing process. Here, we explain three types of games that the Black population can play in the comfort of their homes for recovering from a stroke with little or no therapist involvement.
Board games played at home are time-tested for being a fun activity for healthy people at all stages. However, the same board games can miraculously help a stroke patient recover.
Classic games like puzzles, Sudoku, Connect4, and Guess-Who challenge the stroke survivor to think deeper and, in turn, help in regaining or fortifying the memory. Who doesn’t remember the game Monopoly played during childhood? A stroke survivor feels the warmth of childhood memories, and making strategies while playing Monopoly helps a lot in improving memory.
Amongst the card games, Catch-a-Fish is an excellent game that assists a stroke patient in re-learning the patterns. If nothing else, the good old memory cards help a stroke survivor regain or relearn the lost vocabulary.
These board and card games also require slow but constant arm movement, providing excellent physical exercise without putting the patients under undue pressure to perform. These games are affordable and readily available at grocery or convenience stores. Also, some of these games require a companion to play that boosts up a stroke patient’s social life.
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Studies have shown that video games are a great source of rehabilitation for stroke patients. Playing most classic games does not require a therapist’s supervision and can be played at a convenient corner of your home.
Research conducted at Lancaster University showed that playing Nintendo Wii helped significantly in improving arm movement as compared to only physiotherapy in stroke patients. Other recent studies have shown that Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect games, Peggle, IREX, and HTC Vive help stroke patients improve cognitive and motor skills.
Recently, many specialized video games have been developed that can be played at home under the supervision of a tele-therapist. These video games focus on the affected body area and stimulate them for a better recovery. These video games are very interactive, and the controlling device is also customizable. Such games have been designed to have alternating therapist-supervised hours and independent, unsupervised hours played at home.
Some of the games like RecoveryRapids, Brain Age, MusicGlove, FitMi, Fruit Ninja, and a few other Virtual reality-based video games like NVIDIA VR Funhouse, the Lab, Beat Saber, Climbey, and Pierhead Arcade are great resources to help a stroke patient improve the functionality of either an affected area or the whole body. Moreover, they are fun to play and are very engaging. Often, availing a therapist’s help is challenging for the Black population; these games require very little supervision and, if needed, can be availed online.
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Stroke is devastating for an individual both mentally and physically. Managing stroke requires a collaboration between the affected individual, their healthcare provider, and their family and friends. The healthcare provider can recommend a set of games to improve the functionality of the affected body part.
Families in the Black community should actively encourage stroke survivors to play fun games at home. Helping them play games is a win-win situation: the patient gets to heal faster, and the family and friends have a quality and fun time together. For stroke patients: play games and get healed faster.
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