Candlelight Capers started more than 50 years ago as a Tea Dance and holiday social gathering. Today, the annual event is one of the primary fundraising events for Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center and the social event of the season.
Started by the hospital's volunteer Auxiliary group as a way for medical residents to meet and socialize with attending physicians, Candlelight Capers is now led by the Friends of Good Sam, a volunteer committee consisting of hospital staff, community volunteers, physicians and physicians' spouses.
The 54th annual Candlelight Capers presented by American Valet will be held on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008, at the beautiful J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix. Reserve your place for Candlelight Capers.
This year, the goal is to raise funds for an innovative use of virtual reality tools in patient rehabilitation.
Patients recovering from stroke, traumatic injury, surgery or extended illness can face an emotionally and physically trying rehabilitation. They must perform the same exercises repetitively to strengthen and retrain their muscles, yet these exercises can be tiring, painful and monotonous. Patients also must accept the help of family and healthcare staff for the simplest activities. Some will experience depression and anxiety because they believe chances of a successful recovery are remote or even impossible.
Staff at Banner Good Samaritan’s Rehabilitation Institute, along with Banner Health simulation researchers, want to help these patients with virtual reality technology. They believe this technology, similar to some concepts used by Nintendo’s Wii System, may help with neuromuscular and cognitive rehabilitation. This very serious therapy is actually delivered with a healthy dose of fun, competitive challenge, and family participation. Researchers and therapists believe this could encourage patient compliance in a field of medicine where some simply lose hope.
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Simulation education has been
used to help train physicians,
nurses and first-response
teams. A new program at the
Banner Good Samaritan
Rehabilitation Institute will
use Ninentdo Wii games to
help patients regain mobility
during their recovery.
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This new frontier being investigated at the Banner Good Samaritan Rehabilitation Institute is being carefully watched by others across the country. In fact, recently Nintendo provided the well-guarded code to some of their Wii games to our researchers. They believe that we may be able to work together to design games specifically for individual diagnoses and defects and that could also monitor patients’ progress.
At Banner Health, it is our mission to make a difference in people’s lives through excellent patient care. Your tax-deductible donation, or participation in our annual event, are ways that you can make a meaningful and immediate difference.
The 2007 Candlelight Capers black-tie gala in raised nearly $500,000 in support of Trauma Services and Community Outreach programs. In years past the annual event has supported such programs as The Laura Dreier Breast Center, cancer care and research, neurosciences, transplant services, the Healing Garden and various pieces of specialized medical and surgical equipment.
To inquire about sponsorship opportunities for the 2008 Candlelight Capers, please contact the Volunteer Services "Friends of Good Sam" committee at (602) 239-4380.
The J.W. Marriott is currently taking reservations for the weekend. For weekend packages, please contact the reservation desk at (480) 293-5000 or toll-free at (800) 898-4527.