My grandma has a walker & a cane and she doesn't use either of them consistently. She has cognitive decline, which makes it hard for her to remember. She has trouble focusing and remembering things.
I read through some posts here about relatives not using walkers, but most were before covid. My grandma is currently staying (probably temporarily) in my parents' home, and there is another family member who just tested positive with covid. Without going into all the specifics of the complicated situation, basically, the important thing is that my mom needs to be in the room with my grandma as little as possible, but when she isn't near her, my grandma tends to get up and walk without her walker. She has fallen MULTIPLE times in the last week since coming to their home.
One strategy we're trying is to have family members in other households be with her on a video call for several hours at a time. Not necessarily talking the whole time, but at least in view of each other. This keeps her more entertained and less likely to get up. Plus, if we do see her getting up, we can remind her to use her walker.
Any tips or even just sharing your own experiences would be very helpful. Thank you. This whole thing has been stressful, especially on my parents, and I'm just trying to help as much as possible without being able to physically be there.
With needing to be monitored 24/7, is a facility possible? Or an aide for multiple hours a day?
Do you know why she is falling so much? Pain? Weakness? Not paying attention? I'm sure this has already been done but just in case, make sure there is nothing for her to trip on, etc. If it's pain or weakness, there may be meds and/or PT to help with this.
My MIL fell a few times and we were adamant with her about "if your feet are on the floor, your hands are on your walker". But she does not have dementia which of course changes everything.
We got ours at a DME supply store affiliated with one of the hospitals. I don't recall if we had to get a prescription or not. They do have to "fitted", so that the handlebars are at a height that the person doesn't have to lean over, which sometimes happens when walkers aren't fitted or adjusted properly.
Mom needs to put an N95 mask on so she can assist grandma and then let the chips fall where they may. N95 masks are as effective as possible in containing the aerosols that can spread the virus.
If you get a mat with an alarm, by the time it goes off, grandma has already fallen. I know, b/c my 94 y/o mother has fallen over 50x already in Assisted Living and Memory Care. Many of those falls happened while she WAS using her walker, too. Nothing works to prevent falls. Nothing. Unless an aide is with the elder 24/7, literally, and even then, if their back is turned for 3 seconds, a fall can happen.
You can't expect video calls to go on for hours at a time, day in and day out, on a long term basis.......that's not a viable plan for anyone.
If it were me, I'd choose the N95 mask scenario or place grandma in a Skilled Nursing Facility where she can be cared for 24/7. There's no perfect answer here, as you know.
Good luck!
She needs a walker to move...even a step. I met her at the door and said we could chat in the common living room. She said "Oh, I'll go get your gift" and she left her walker standing there and struggled to get back the 8' into her apartment. I said "Mom, don't fuss it!" I saw her trying to bed over and was fiddling with some packages...my heart about stopped b/c she was hanging onto nothing. I grabbed her walker and took it back to her apt. She wasn't even aware she didn't have it. I am amazed she has not had many more falls.
I wish she'd give up the aluminum walker AND the canes AND the wheelchair and stick with the rollater. She is much more stable and can always have a seat.
On the 'funny' side. We chatted for about 10 minutes and she says "well, of course you know everybody in the house but me has COVID". I almost fell off MY chair!! I asked quickly when the last person was out of quarantine and she said "Oh, yesterday or today". Phew.
I do not know HOW she lived in the house with 6 sick people and didn't catch it.
I masked up and asked her to do likewise before we visited, so I feel OK. Just..a really scary moment. I don't mind if I get it, but it would probably kill DH.
As far as the walker---she forgets all the time to grab on to it and she's been 'walker bound' for 4 years. 99% of the time she is alone, so if she falls, she falls. When I grabbed hers for her today, she truly didn't realize she had stumbled along without it. KNOWING isn't the problem-- remembering is.
Also--Mother walks MUCH more upright with the rollater than with the walker. With the walker, she is bent over in a C curve and is essentially 'chasing' her walker, rather than using it for support. I think that's common.
When I bought my mom, who was 94 at the time, a rollator last Thanksgiving she was still able to walk on her own but, I wanted her to have it just in case and I wanted her to get used to it. So every time I talked to her on the phone, I would remind her to use it but, that wasn't enough.
So I ended up typing (on our computer) in big, bold type, black lettering signs that said "Please use your walker" and put them on each side of every door. That helped tremendously to the point she didn't want to be without her walker!
Good luck!