Mom forgets to use her walker and keeps falling. Help!
Ouch! You are so right in acknowledging the dangers of an elderly person falling; fractured bones or sprained ligaments are usually the grave result. Older persons are more fragile and less sure-footed than their younger version and adding memory loss to this scenario can cause the concern that you have expressed. Using a walker with dementia certainly compounds this already scary scenario. The problem is, of course, in not having stored the information about using the walker and its safety factors. Without the storage of this pertinent info, she cannot recall it when it is time to use this device. Using a walker with dementia certainly compounds this already scary scenario. The problem is, of course, in not having stored the information about using the walker and its safety factors. Without the storage of this pertinent info, she cannot recall it when it is time to use this device.
The best Special Care Units, for community based long term care, use devices on chairs and beds that emit a sound when the resident arises thus alerting staff that a memory impaired resident at risk for falls is about to stand or walk away. It is rare to see a walker being used in the best settings as repeated reminders do not help to store this needed info and instead seem to make the impaired person agitated. Few memory impired adults like to be reminded of an impairment.
Try to offer the walker to your Mom whenever you see her begin to stand. Limit the conversation about it.
The alerting device mentioned above is available at The Alzheimer's Store; the personnel there are very helpful with finding appropriate solutions so it may well be worth it to contact them directly or online at thealzheimersstore.com
