How To Safely Use a Walker

5 Star Home Care quality homecare for Seniors – call 404-719-4118.  Serving all areas in Metro Atlanta including Fulton County, Dekalb County, Cobb County, and  Gwinett County.

Improper use of a walker lands approximately 47,000 seniors in Los Angeles and nationwide in the hospital each and every year for treatment of injuries related to accidents from walkers. When used properly, a walker provides support and stability; but if it’s used incorrectly, it can actually do more damage than good. Here are a few of the common mistakes that Los Angeles seniors make when using their walkers, and what seniors should do instead to make sure that they remain safe and accident free:

• Walkers that aren’t adjusted to the right height, cause seniors to stoop and provide inadequate support that can result in falls, and causing aches and pains

• Seniors don’t use their walker to get up from a couch or chair. Anytime they go to get up, their walker should be directly in front of them, and used to pull them up

• Seniors move their walkers too far ahead when walking with it, which makes them strain to reach it and puts them in a more precarious position than if they weren’t using it in the first place

• Seniors don’t receive training in walker use from a rehabilitation clinic or physiotherapist

• Seniors might borrow a walker from a friend or family member, that wasn’t selected specifically for them or adjusted to the right height or size.

Types of services available for seniors living at home

5 Star Home Care quality homecare for Seniors – call 404-719-4118. Serving all areas in Metro Atlanta including Fulton County, Dekalb County, Cobb County, and  Gwinett County.

Homemaker Services – Can include help with cooking, light cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and other household chores.

• Personal Care – Assistance with a variety of daily living activities such as bathing, dressing, toilet use, grooming and eating.
• Companionship – From daily telephone calls from a “buddy,” to a daily “friendly” visitor, to round-the-clock paid companions.
• Home Health Care – Skilled care that can include nursing; speech, occupational, physical, or respiratory therapy; home health aides, and social work or psychiatric care.
• Adult Day Care – Daily, facility-based programs in a community center setting for seniors who need monitoring or companionship during the day.
• Activity Groups – Games, trips, shopping outings, and other stimulating group activities.
• Respite Care – A trained volunteer or para-professional stays with your loved one and takes over your caregiving role, whether for several hours or several days. These brief reprieves from a caregiving situation are healthy for the caregiver and also for the care recipient…a change of daily routine for both.
• Live-in Help – Home care best suited to long-distance caregiving or other situations in which the primary caregiver can’t be there in person and the senior needs round-the-clock support. Room, board and, in many cases, a salary, is provided in exchange for meal preparation, light housekeeping, and other non-medical services.
• Hospice Care – Medical, social, and emotional services for the terminally ill and their families.
• Caregiver Support Groups – Support for issues about aging, peer companionship, illness-based support, groups for caregivers, grief support and many others to help people experiencing life challenges with a family member.

In addition to consulting with your senior family member and any relevant medical or therapeutic professionals, consider a “needs assessment,” which can be conducted by a care manager or home care specialist—or you can do it yourself.

Considering using home care services

For many caregivers, there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day. It’s difficult to care for all of the needs of a family member and still have enough time and energy left for your own family, a job and yourself. Exhaustion and stress can become overwhelming. If this description fits you, it’s time to consider home care services.

Seniors who become home care recipients most often would rather stay in their own homes than move into residential care. And economically, except for round-the-clock nursing care, home care can be less expensive than most board and care homes, skilled nursing homes and assisted living facilities. However, this is not always the case, and prices should be compared.

If you or your loved one has the living space and financial resources the cost you might consider hiring a live-in care provider .This type of home care is very well suited for long distance caregiving situations in which the primary caregiver can’t be there in person and the elder needs full-time assistance or monitoring.