In-Home Health Care for Seniors: Improve Your Mobility this Quarantine Period
During this quarantine period, think about in-home health care, particularly for seniors.
Everyone is prone to developing a sedentary lifestyle when staying at home. Because you are in lockdown and you can’t walk and jog outside, you would opt to watch TV and read books. These activities lead to a decrease in mobility.
This should not be the case. Mobility comes with successful aging.
According to John Griffin, award-winning retired professor, researcher, and author, in How Important is Mobility video by Active Aging Canada, “Mobility is your ability to do the things in everyday life that you need to do and that you want to do. That may be chores around the house, that may be touring outside, maybe your recreational activities; it may be playing with your grandchildren… any of those things which are functional but they demand that you have a degree of mobility.”
How to Check Your Mobility
Loss of mobility is common among older adults. How can you check if your mobility is still fine? For Harvard Medical School instructor Dr. Suzanne Salamon, the Get Up and Go Test works simply. From a sitting position, she asks the patient to stand up, walk 10 feet, and turn around then walk back to the chair to sit. The time it takes for the person to complete this task and how steady the patient is in doing this can already give you an idea of his level of mobility.
Improve Your Mobility
One way to promote in-home health care for seniors is to do exercises that would increase movement. To improve your mobility while still in lockdown, search for related YouTube videos for seniors. Ask for assistance from your in-home caregiver. However, consult with a medical professional about the types of exercises you choose to do before you actually begin. You can also show your doctor the videos to ask for approval.
For in-home health care for seniors, here is a 20-minute video that features Follow-Along Mobility Workout for Seniors by Dr. Ben Kim, a chiropractor and acupuncturist who has 20 years of private practice in the United States and Canada who now shares what he has learned and continue to learn about self-health care through his website.
