Texas rehab therapy jobs are getting more interesting, thanks to headline news from Shriners Hospitals in Galveston, where the virtual reality game, SnowWorld, is being used during physical and occupational therapy sessions for burn victims. The rehab hospital, on the map for providing total burn care to children for decades, is taking part in a study funded by the National Institutes of Health; it examines the effects of pain distraction and its positive impact on pain tolerance. The medium supplying this welcomed distraction? Virtual reality games!
To date, the results have been both very positive and encouraging. SnowWorld—in use and viewable in the video below —calms patients, reduces their pain and allows them to complete more rigorous and productive therapy regimes with their PTs and OTs, compared with patients who did not use the virtual reality game during therapy.
Patients in Pediatric Rehabilitation Hospitals Experience Better Therapy Sessions with Virtual Reality
The interesting thing to note about SnowWorld is that, unlike other virtual reality games, it lacks characters, detailed storylines or complicated rules; patients simply lie back and have fun with it—the game’s creators describe it as being totally immersed in a cool, virtual world proven to temporarily alter pain receptors in the patient’s brain, thus distracting them from the more grueling aspects of occupational and physical therapy.
Because occupational therapists and physical therapists provide these patients with the exercises they need to help retain skin elasticity and avoid multiple surgeries, they can fully appreciate a virtual reality game like SnowWorld, and look forward to the pain distraction it provides—not only as a way to get patients more excited about working together, but as a way to accomplish their goals faster and with less resistance.
Work in Texas Physical Therapy Jobs at Rehab Hospitals with Cutting-Edge Technology
With world-renowned rehabilitation hospitals employing virtual reality and enjoying its success, Texas physical therapy jobs for allied health professionals are using advanced technology in their physical and occupational therapy careers—these are lucrative professions in high demand and continue to climb as we enter the new year of 2011.
American Traveler Allied® provides therapist recruitment solutions for America’s top rated rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient and Rehab centers, skilled nursing facilities, and private therapy practices located in all 50 U.S. states. Our experienced team of staffing experts place physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, per diem staff, and other allied healthcare professionals into therapy careers nationwide. Contact us today for instant access to cutting edge recruitment technology, therapy career resources, news, and information.
