DSEP CONFERENCE DECEMBER, 2013 AN EXPLORATION OF ATHLETES’ PERCEPTIONS AND EXPERIENCES OF ACTIVE VIDEO GAMES IN RELATION TO REHABILITATION FROM SPORTS INJURY Andrew J. Manley, James Wallace Leeds Metropolitan University, UK Monna Arvinen-Barrow University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW DSEP CONFERENCE 16 DECEMBER, 2013 Existing evidence for “ Wii -habilitation” Aim of the present study Method and Results Conclusions, implications and future directions

EXISTING EVIDENCE FOR “ WII -HABILITATION” Some initial examination (mainly case studies) of Active Video Games (AVGs) as a means of rehabilitation... DSEP CONFERENCE 16 DECEMBER, 2013 Nitz et al. (2010). Climacteric, 13, Balance Lower-limb muscle strength  Poor Control  High attrition

EXISTING EVIDENCE FOR “ WII -HABILITATION” Some initial examination (mainly case studies) of Active Video Games (AVGs) as a means of rehabilitation... DSEP CONFERENCE 16 DECEMBER, 2013 Taylor et al. (2011). J. Rehab. Res. Dev., 48,  k/2009/12/i-love-wii.html

EXISTING EVIDENCE FOR “ WII -HABILITATION” Some initial examination (mainly case studies) of Active Video Games (AVGs) as a means of rehabilitation... DSEP CONFERENCE 16 DECEMBER, 2013 Fung et al. (2012). Physiotherapy, 98, Traditional Exercises AVG Exercises =

“ WII -HABILITATION” FOR SPORTS INJURIES? Very little research to examine/evaluate AVGs in facilitating recovery from musculoskeletal injury (in spite of high incidence rates) DSEP CONFERENCE 16 DECEMBER, 2013 Butler & Willett (2010). Injury, 41, _Hospital_Corpsman_1st_Class_Guy_Duke,_left,_and_Electronics_Tech nician_3rd_Class_Joshua_Benedict_demonstrate_how_the_Physical_therap y_Department_at_Naval_Health_Clinic,_Charleston_use_the_Wii_Fit% ;%26-173;s_yo.jpg

STUDY AIM DSEP CONFERENCE 16 DECEMBER, 2013 Examine previously injured athletes’ perceptions and experiences of AVGs in relation to rehabilitation from sports injury

METHOD: PARTICIPANTS Previously injured athletes ( N = 10; n male = 8, n female = 2) —University undergraduate students (M age = years; SD = 1.86 years) —Participation levels ranged from amateur/club (n = 8) to semi- professional (n = 2) —All had completed a formal programme of sports injury rehabilitation within the last two years (now fully recovered) DSEP CONFERENCE 16 DECEMBER,

METHOD: RESEARCH DESIGN Three-phase protocol: —Phase 1: Semi-structured interview #1 (28-47 mins) DSEP CONFERENCE 16 DECEMBER, 2013 “My previous experience of injury rehab. was...” “My perceptions of AVGs for the purposes of injury rehab. are...” —Phase 2: Familiarisation/exploration of Nintendo Wii-Fit Plus (~30 mins) —Phase 3: Semi-structured interview #2 (32-53 mins)

METHOD: DATA ANALYSIS Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) —Ideographic, empathic, critical realist method —“…seeking to understand people’s experience…at a particular time in their life, in that social, cultural, political and economic context.” (Shaw, 2010, p. 178) DSEP CONFERENCE 16 DECEMBER, 2013

RESULTS: EMERGENT THEMES Emotional Response “I found the [traditional] programme very repetitive” (Participant #5) “Yeah definitely… I would have found it [AVGs] really useful…because it sets challenges to complete and I felt it would have been beneficial to my physiotherapy” (Participant #10) “I don’t think using the Wii would be particularly useful to my rehabilitation because although the exercises where fun I didn’t feel it was strenuous and challenging” (Participant #8; Semi-pro) “I struggle to get motivated at home, I find that I have to go to the gym...something like this [AVGs] would definitely have helped” (Participant # 2) “I thought they [AVGs] were very stimulating and enjoyable” (Participant #4) DSEP CONFERENCE 16 DECEMBER, 2013 Sense of Progression Environment “she (the Physiotherapist) was putting the time in with me to do it” (Participant #4; Semi-pro)

DISCUSSION: CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF “ WII -HABILITATION”? Adapted from Kizony et al.’s (2004) Model for Virtual Reality in Rehabilitation DSEP CONFERENCE 16 DECEMBER, 2013 “Interaction Space” “Transfer Phase” “Real World” AVG environment carefully designed with injured athlete in mind Positive emotional response facilitates adherence & learning Sense of progression through improved/ expanded functionality

CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS Further support for AVGs as a potentially accessible and cost-effective means of enhancing sports injury rehabilitation programmes Further research required to confirm the functionality of commercially-available AVGs within the context of injury rehabilitation Implications for sports medicine and video game design DSEP CONFERENCE 16 DECEMBER, 2013

A HUGE THANKS TO ALL THE ATHLETES WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS STUDY ANY QUESTIONS?