Motion interactive video games in home training for children with cerebral palsy: parents’ perceptions

Abstract

Purpose: To explore parents’ perceptions of using low-cost motion interactive video games as home training for their children with mild/moderate cerebral palsy. Method: Semi-structured interviews were carried out with parents from 15 families after participation in an intervention where motion interactive games were used daily in home training for their child. A qualitative content analysis approach was applied. Results: The parents’ perception of the training was very positive. They expressed the view that motion interactive video games may promote positive experiences of physical training in rehabilitation, where the social aspects of gaming were especially valued. Further, the parents experienced less need to take on coaching while gaming stimulated independent training. However, there was a desire for more controlled and individualized games to better challenge the specific rehabilitative need of each child. Conclusions: Low-cost motion interactive games may provide increased motivation and social interaction to home training and promote independent training with reduced coaching efforts for the parents. In future designs of interactive games for rehabilitation purposes, it is important to preserve the motivational and social features of games while optimizing the individualized physical exercise.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Children with neurodevelopmental disorders like cerebral palsy (CP) are in need of fun and engaging rehabilitation methods to enhance motivation and increase compliance with motor training.

• There is a rising interest among clinical professionals and parents to use motion interactive games as a rehabilitation device for these children.

• In this qualitative study parents perceived that motion interactive games can enhance motivation for practice, stimulate the child, and reduce the parental efforts related to home-based rehabilitation of children with CP.

Keywords::

• Cerebral palsy
• children
• parents
• virtual reality

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all families who participated in this study and Kolbäckens Child Rehabilitation Centre, Umeå, Sweden. Thanks also to The Vårdal Institute, The Swedish Institute for Health Sciences, Lunds University, Lund, Sweden. Finally, our gratitude goes to Dr Ulla Hällgren Graneheim for constructive advice on the manuscript.

Declaration of Interest: The project was funded by the foundations of JC Kempe, Sven Jerring, Muskelfond Norr, and to Queen Silvia Jubilee Foundation (for research on children and handicap). The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.