Mobility is an essential part of our everyday activities. Most elderly patients with a neurological disorder or any serious physical injury struggle with this part the most. To help them with mobility, you need to provide them with mobility aids. You need to be sure that they find it comfortable as well as convenient to use it. Whether it is walking canes or crutches, you need to make sure that it is of the perfect length that the elderly require; it provides them comfort, can handle their body weight, and many more factors. Read further to know the five things to consider while choosing a mobility aid.
1. Comfort:
The primary benefit of any mobility device is to help provide mobility to ones that need it. But, the elderly tend to use it the most. Thus, you need to make sure that it is comfortable for them to use it. Any mobility aid should be comfortable to use, even when used for long distances. These aids should be a useful means of transportation.
Usually, the people that use the crutches when they have any leg injury often their crutches get unused. You can just type “used crutches for sale,” and an NGO or someone will get in contact with you to help you out for the same. Because crutches are expensive, elderly people especially need to use them more often than any other person.
2. Portability:
Dealing with bulkier mobility aids is a clear NO NO for the elderly. Heavy wheelchairs are more difficult to manage rather than a simple walking stick, which can easily fit into the car’s trunk. But their requirements are different. So, you need to make sure that the right kind of aid is provided for the right kind of issues.
For people with a high risk of falling, the safety of the elderly is important. Mobility devices with extra-wide bases like wheelchairs and scooters are better options. The elderly just need to strap in, and they have very less chance of tipping over since their center of gravity is maintained in the core. Like walkers do not allow this, it needs the user to shift their weight forward, which continuously changes the center of gravity.
3. Weight:
Any kind of mobility aid has some kind of weight limit. The normal weight limit is 275-300 lbs. If your elderly lie on a higher scale, then you need to invest in more heavy-duty wheelchairs and walking canes. If the elderly are below 275 lbs, then they have more options.
Also, you need to be specific with the type of aid that you want. Say if an elderly is above 300 lbs, then a normal walking stick would not help the user much. In comparison to that, a walking cane, crutch, scooter, or wheelchair will do a better job. So, you need to figure out the ideal choice for their mobility issue.
4. Versatility:
Different kinds of devices require you to use different aids. There is no one device that the elderly can use for every kind of issue. There needs to be a device that helps secure your waist, even on scooters, like a seatbelt is needed. So that the elderly can go hands-free while using the aid.
Conclusion:
There are many things to consider while choosing a mobility aid. If you are looking for some cost-effective options, then you just need to type “crutches for sale,” and you will have your options for cost-effective crutches. You can also go for used crutches for sale and get them at a much lower rate. But you need to take care of the comfort level, weight limit, versatility, portability, proper length, everything. But first and foremost, you need to be sure that the aid which you have provided is ideal for the mobility issue of the elderly.
