Nintendo's Wii a surprise hit with seniors
By: Christian Science Monitor
Video-game versions of bowling, boxing or tennis can offer an adrenaline rush that older players haven't experienced in years.
Six seniors at the Sedgebrook retirement community gathered in the lounge after dinner last year as the holiday season was getting under way. The center's residents were an unlikely test audience for the season's hottest toys. The plan: determine which toys their grandchildren might like.
The assumption was that they'd give their grandchildren the toys they approved. But it didn't quite turn out that way. The Nintendo Wii was so popular that the residents clamored for their own.
Today, each of the Erickson chain's retirement communities, including Sedgebrook, outside Chicago, owns at least one Wii.
Other retirement communities and municipal senior centers in recent months have followed, many using wellness grants and public funds to pay for the video-game system. The Wii retails for about $250.
Proponents say the Wii offers a welcome reprieve from a sedentary lifestyle and boosts hand-eye coordination among the over-60 set in a way that bingo and mah-jongg can't.
But it can be a challenge to get residents comfortable with the video games. Many retirement communities are encouraging hesitant seniors with tournaments, trophies and cash prizes. Some centers are placing their Wiis in high-traffic areas where seniors congregate or, for the bashful, behind a movable privacy screen.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment