Integrating virtual reality into my rehabilitation sessions: yes, but how?

First of all, it is important to know that a first session with the use of virtual reality serves as an evaluation for the health professional, in order to be able to estimate the functional capacities of his patient.

We recommend virtual reality in rehabilitation for several pathologies, such as neurology (stroke, head trauma, MS ...), orthopedics / traumatology(post-operation, injury, fracture ...) and geriatrics (balance disorders, stimulation and maintenance of abilities ...).

Let's take the case of a patient with hemiparesis, motor disorders of an upper limb and balance problems. The healthcare professional selects a virtual reality exercise to help the patient work on his balance, and chooses the H'ability " Foot " universe. The patient works on support, amplitude and stability, with the aim of stopping the soccer ball like a real goalkeeper.

At the beginning of the first exercise of the session, the health professional enters the observation phase : how does the patient react? How does he/she work his/her amplitudes during the exercise? What pain did he feel during the session?

Thanks to this first use, he will be able to determine which parameters, options and levels of difficulty to set up for his patient: modification of the speed of the ball, realization of the exercise only with the use of the right hand, appearance of the ball only on the left zone, different placement of the patient (in squats position, lunges...) In this way, the exercise can be carried out in a modular and adaptable way, while identifying what needs to be reworked for the next sessions. To help with the configuration, information sheets are available for each exercise, explaining the modifications according to the chosen parameters.

A virtual reality rehabilitation session lasts an average of 15 to 30 minutes and is composed of 2 to 6 different exercises, depending on the intensity set and the patient's fatigability.