Benefits of a virtual play rehabilitation environment for children with cerebral palsy on perceptions of self-efficacy: a pilot study

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a clinical trial of a virtual reality play-based intervention. The results of three single case studies are presented. The virtual reality intervention used the Mandala Gesture Xtreme technology. It was applied to three school-aged children with cerebral palsy. A pre-test-post-test design was used. The relevant outcome of interest was self-efficacy as measured with the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). Group scores on the COPM indicated clinically significant changes in self-efficacy for all children. Two of the participants demonstrated the greatest changes in both perceived performance abilities and satisfaction with performance with respect to task specific domain areas. Qualitative comments from the participants revealed a high degree of motivation, interest, pleasure, and opportunity for engagement in play, activities not previously engaged in. Overall, this pilot study suggests the viability of a virtual reality play-based intervention as part of the rehabilitation process for children with cerebral palsy. These results form the basis of a larger scale randomized clinical trial.