Microsoft and Others Partner to Form “Exergamers Wellness Club”
Microsoft has announced a partnership with the City of Los Angeles, the Partners in Care Foundation, and St. Barnabas Senior Services called the “Exergamers Wellness Club”.
Since May 2011, a group of Los Angeles seniors have been attending regular fitness classes involving dancing and bowling with Kinect for Xbox 360 to achieve more active lifestyles and reduce social isolation. Simultaneously, they’ve used Microsoft HealthVault to monitor the benefits of their increased activity, manage chronic conditions and track their personal health information, such as blood pressure and blood-glucose levels.
The results are real! For instance, Orlando Estrada, 77, credits the program with helping him start walking again, foregoing use of his wheelchair. The technology has also contributed to unusually high retention rates: 33 of the 34 seniors continued their participation throughout the wellness program.
The partners will expand the club to the other 15 senior centers within the LA Department of Aging and Microsoft will donate Kinect, games and a one-year subscription to Xbox LIVE Gold to all the centers. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angelesechoes the excitement saying, “The City of Los Angeles is excited to partner with Microsoft, the Partners in Care Foundation and St. Barnabas Senior Services to help improve the health and fitness of area seniors. The Exergamers Wellness Club allows seniors to improve their physical, mental and social wellbeing by participating in friendly competition, interactive gaming and tracking their health information online. It is just one small way we can give back to the people who have given our city so much."
For more details, see the announcement press release and feature story on Microsoft News Center. Also, a Microsoft on the Issues blog post will go live after the event this afternoon featuring video of a surprise senior flash mob
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