Baylor College Of Medicine

Just over a year ago I blogged :Baylor College Of Medicine Utilising Second Life To Aid Women With Physical Limitations Lose Weight. That post looked at a program designed to help women lose weight when exercise is not really an option due to their physical limitations.

Fast forward to January 29th and wheelchair user Terri O’Hare has blogged about her experience of the program. The post is not too lengthy but well worth a read. Terri explains how it was with some major reluctance that she entered the virtual world of Second Life, due to the fact that she thought it would be largely inhabited by thirteen year old boys. However, she soon discovered that this was not the case :

At first I strongly resisted Second Life (SL), figuring it was a fantasy world full of 13 year-old boys. But then I actually entered it after a training session and walked, flew, and jumped around the beautiful “world” our program instructors built just for us.

That space included a workout area complete with yoga, bicycles, rock climbing and more. Terri also describes how she became attached to her avatar.

Continue reading “How Second Life Can Help People Lose Real Weight”

Sometimes you see a news item or a blog post in a stream and you wonder if it’s something that has been rehashed from many moons ago. That was my first thought when I saw the story I’m about to blog about, however after delving further it looks like the real deal.

BCM Momentum, the blog for Baylor College Of Medicine informs us : Online program aims to aid in weight loss for women with physical limitations. The program addresses a very serious issue, as Margaret A.Nosek PHD explains :

If you really want to see something rarer than a vegetarian at a rib cook-off, try looking for a woman in a wheelchair at Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, or 24 Hour Fitness. Why are we such rare birds in these environments?

The answer is simple – these programs don’t really understand what it’s like to try to lose weight when exercising is simply not an option.

Therefore there’s a need for women with physical limitations to share ideas on how to lose weight and of course a good way of doing this is to meetup in small groups to discuss methods that may work. However there are times when physical limitations are problematic for people who may benefit from meeting up in a central physical location, so what better way to address this than via a virtual world :

We are now testing this program with small groups of women who have mobility limitations, but instead of making them deal with all the hassles of coming to one location, we hold our meetings in the virtual online world of Second Life.

Whereas this program is aimed at women in the Houston area, it still shows the power and benefits that a virtual world can bring.

Continue reading “Baylor College Of Medicine Utilising Second Life To Aid Women With Physical Limitations Lose Weight”