Over the NBA All-Star weekend, how are video games relevant? Well, Sony Computer Entertainment America is using the weekend as a way to give back to the kids.
Sony has now given Children Hospital of New Orleans a total of 8 new systems in and to HD-TV. The systems included: PS3, PS2, and PSP. But that was not all. They also gave them a storage system that holds
2 HD-TVs, 2 PS3s, and 2 PS2s. The storage system was designed with the idea that it would be able to be rolled in and out of rooms and not cause any setup problems within the hospital.
We had the pleasure of chatting with Jeff Helminger, who is a Recreational Therapist for the hospital.
Post Game Report: Jeff thanks for taking some time out to chat. I see we are in a teen room. What is the teen room for?
Jeff Helminger: The teen room is the place where the kids can come and be kids. It is a safe place for them, where they can get out of the hospital environment. The corner stone of the teen room is the PS3 and the big screen TV.
PGR: That sounds like a room I would not want to leave. So what games do they play?
JH: Well the kids and teens are drawn to play NBA Live, Madden, Sing Star and some other games too.
PGR: What kind of feed back do you get from kids when they are playing?
JH: Well, when you meet a kind in the room and they are sad and depressed, then when you get the child to come down to the teen room, the environment changes. As music and videos games are on in the background the kids will start to socialize and start to enjoy the environment. We here at the hospital start to see how they act if they where out side in a normal environment.
PGR: That is a great thing to be part of. Is there a child that sticks out in your mind that always wants to be in the teen room?
JH: Well what comes to mind is, when the teen room was first opened there was a boy about 16 or 17 and had severe pains. The child never wanted to get out of bed and gave the staff a hard time. Once he was in the teen room, he started to laugh, listen to music and play games.
He had no problems staying in the teen room for hours on end. I could tell that he was more focused on being himself and had less focus on the pain.
I like to thank you Jeff for the time you could spend with me. Also like to give SCEA a great pat on the back. They are able to help and add smiles to children who need them.