DAPHNE, Ala. — Video games are no longer just expensive toys for couch potatoes.

A national trend has hospitals using Nintendo’s popular Wii as recreational therapy to get patients moving again while having fun — a trend that has made its way to the Eastern Shore.

A presentation at Mercy Medical on Wednesday showed hospital staff members how to operate the machine.

The system differs from other video games because of its action-detecting controller.

“The Wii games require body movements similar to traditional therapy exercises,” Kristin Stiggers, a recreational therapist student intern at Mercy Medical, said.

Patients who’ve had strokes, brain injury or other traumas can build muscles, fine-tune motor skills and aid cognitive redevelopment using the program, according to Dr. Gary Keogh, Mercy Medical’s medical director of acute and outpatient rehabilitation.

“Having this available for patients allows us to treat a whole lot of different patients, be creative and treat on an individual basis,” he said.

Keogh explained that Mercy Medical has used the program for two months.

“It’s early in the utilization …. I think it’s going to be standard in a few years in rehabilitation … ,” he said.

The hospital has successfully used the Wii to treat a few stroke patients, Keogh said.

“One with visual field deficits have improved and one with sensation problems (has improved too),” he said.

On Wednesday, hospital staff simulated patients’ experiences of Wii-habilitation. They donned weights and eyewear to feel as patients do during sessions.

Lisa Griggs, a recreational therapist, added weights to her left arm and leg and wore glasses that simulated one-eye blindness. She sat in a wheelchair and “bowled” using the game system.

“That was (like) bowling with a stroke,” she said. “I could only see out of one eye; I had a right neglect, which obviously threw the ball off.

“The weights on one side threw my balance off and it was hard to do in a wheelchair because of the arm bar.”

Elaine Lowery, an X-ray technologist, wore glasses that acted as cataracts, giving her vision a yellow hue. She also “bowled” from a wheelchair. Other staff members played tennis and golf while simulating an equilibrium deficit by placing one or both feet on a board with a ball underneath.

Griggs said the Wii-habilitation gave therapists an extra awareness of patients’ therapy challenges.

“What we’re trying to do here is have all therapists come in and help them (patients) meet rehabilitation goals and we’re using this as a rehabilitation tool to meet them,” she said.

Patients who’ve experienced certain traumas have undergone extreme physical changes, she said. They need training to develop new ways to accomplish everyday actions.

“We’re trying to get them back doing things they love to do,” Griggs said. “We get people as independent as possible and when they are discharged they continue it.

“It’s not only dressing yourself and swallowing, but also quality of life issues."

Wednesday’s session also featured a presentation on the workings of the Wii. Stiggers explained the console connections and remote uses. She demonstrated securing the controller with its wrist band so that it doesn’t get dropped during action.

She identified the different uses of controllers and their corresponding benefits for patients.

She held one controller in each hand and demonstrated the boxing techniques used in one of the games.

“As you can see, the person is boxing, so you use your upper arm muscles,” she said.

She said that patients can create their own characters and track their scores.

The program is useful because patients can see their work pay off on the monitor, Griggs said.

“It shows how well you’re progressing on the screen,” she said.

Thomas Hospital in Fairhope has not adopted the program, but Karen McVay, an occupational therapist, agreed that the Wii is an asset to the field of therapy.

“It’s supposed to be really interactive and more engaging,” she said. “It incorporates hand-eye coordination, range of motion and endurance. As far as a rehab choice, it’s a pretty good one.

“I definitely approve of the system.”