Technology keeping the active adult set fit and connected
Technology is taking senior living communities like Wyndemere in Wheaton and The Garlands in Barrington by storm.
Seniors, particularly those in assisted living communities, are wholeheartedly embracing active video gaming using the Nintendo Wii system and many seniors in independent living communities have found that they can keep in close touch with family and friends around the world through social networking.
The Nintendo Wii gaming system allows players to raise the Wii Remote and use it just like they have a bowling ball, tennis racquet, golf club or whatever in their hand. They then swing their arms to roll or hit the ball. The speed of the swing and the angle at which they hit or release the ball affects the how well they score.
Because players need to exert themselves but do not have to lift a bowling ball, golf club or tennis racquet to participate, it has become increasingly popular among seniors. It is simple to learn and the motion is quite similar to real sports, but it is easy enough so that those with minor disabilities can play.
“Wii bowling, in particular, has become a craze in senior living communities,” said Wayne Smallwood, executive director of the Affordable Assisted Living Coalition (AALC), a trade organization which represents 123 Illinois senior living communities that offer Medicaid-supported assisted living.
In fact, video gaming has become so popular that four years ago the AALC initiated a statewide Wii bowling championship for the residents of its member facilities. Each year the tournament culminates during Supportive Living Week during April with the top four teams competing in Springfield and enjoying an award lunch.
Last year 37 teams participated, according to Smallwood, and this year he expects 50 teams to enter. Standings can be seen on the organization’s website, www.AALConline.org.
“Wii bowling attracts both men and women,” he explained. “In fact, I saw one man who had never bowled before on the winning team and a woman with macular degeneration that made her legally blind able to bowl four strikes in a row.”
“Wii gaming keeps you up and moving,” Smallwood explained, and added that research has shown that people live longer when they remain active. So the AALC is even considering sponsoring a triathalon next year using three different Wii sports.
Private pay senior communities have also latched on to the craze. Julia Steco, 81, a resident at The Garlands in Barrington, recently received acclaim for bowling a perfect 300-point game — 12 consecutive strikes — in Wii bowling.
It is also very popular in Wyndemere’s Wynscape Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Wheaton.
Experts say the game, which allows players to create an individual character that looks similar to them, is great exercise. It can be used as a tool to improve the overall health of seniors and their quality of life by increasing mental stimulation, providing exercise, increasing social interaction and improving hand-eye coordination.
The other technology that is improving the lives of residents of senior communities by helping them stay in touch with world events, family and friends is social networking through Facebook, instant messaging, Twitter and email.
Dottie Kinzie, a 77-year-old widow living in Wyndemere in Wheaton, is a perfect example of this phenomenon.
“I am a communication freak,” Kinzie admitted. “Every morning when I get up the first thing I do is turn on my computer and check Facebook, my emails and my instant messages for messages from friends and family all over the world. I converse with my husband’s roommate in New Zealand, my grandson’s fiancé in Germany, an old friend in American Samoa and so forth.”
Kinzie has been interested in computers since they first came out and her 12-year-old son (now 40) asked for one. Eventually she used a computer herself to assist her attorney husband during his home-based retirement practice and she also tracked their investments online.
Since she moved to Wyndemere 2½ years ago her use of her computer has only grown.
“Social networking is my thing and everyone here teases me about it because I always have email and instant messaging up on my computer and either my banking or Facebook. Everyone thinks that Facebook is just for kids and it’s not. It really goes across generations and I love it,” she said.