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Mother (91) has three walking canes and a walker for outside. I recenty secured her an Acorn Stairlift also as the house she has lived in since late 1950s is a two story with basement. I agree with her Dr. that the walker will make her lazier in the house. She has a new apppointment soon. Suffers with Dementia which I hotice is worsening yearly a little bit - or a lot depending upon whay activity we are tying to do...the telephone is challenging now, for example - but only for business tasks. With her family and friends she can navigate it easier. What doies the communithy think? She has a home attendant with Guild Net, by the way...only 20 hours a week until I marry and move out in two months.

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Make her lazy?! She's 91! I don't mean to be rude but what am I missing here?

Lots and lots of elders use walkers inside the home for goodness sake. This sounds very odd to me.
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I'm confused why anyone would think that someone who wants a walker would become lazy. A walker, or perhaps better yet, a rollator, can help someone with balance issues have a more supportive method of getting from one place to another.

Especially with dementia, she may not remember ways to avoid falls, such as using grab bars, avoiding trip hazards, etc. Falling in the house can be just as dangerous as falling outside.

Could you elaborate on why you and the doctor feel a walker would make her lazier?
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How does a walker make you lazy? I'd consult with a physical therapist and perhaps a doctor who knows something.
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Make her lazy? Find a new Dr that knows something about geriatrics and dementia..
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I agree with everyone else. Find a new doc! I would think using a walker might actually make her more active as she'll feel more confident and secure. Good for her for recognizing her need! Be sure and ask the doc for his home phone so he can come help her up when she falls while not using the walker she feels she needs. Common sense needs to be used here!
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Great logic here! Thank you.
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Great response Nojoy3
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GuvnaBee, if my parents had a doctor who said that, it would have been their last visit... and time to find someone new. That doctor knows very little about elders and what is best for them.

My Dad was always falling whenever he used his cane or was wall walking... once he got his rolling walker the falls stopped by almost 100%... and he feels so much safer with this walker. His walker has a seat and hand brakes, now not everyone can is able to use the hand brakes so it would be something your Mom would need to try out first before buying. The smaller Mom & Pop pharmacies usually have these walkers in stock for you to try out.
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I would get a new doctor immediately, but I would also be concerned with a 91 year old senior with dementia navigating in the house alone, even with help from friends and neighbors. AND a motorize stair lift would be VERY risky left in the control of a dementia patient. They often forget which way things go and their balance is off. I couldn't see allowing her to use that without supervision and I wouldn't trust that she could resist using it when alone.

Is live in care feasible? I might have her assessed to see what her level of assistance is prior to you leaving.
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The first thing the PT said when she got me out of bed to walk the corridors. "Would you like a walker?" Double the exercise using hands, arms and legs. i really do wonder if some of these guys actually went to medical school or just brought a diploma and a white coat. Perhaps there is a textbook entitled "Medical School for idiots" Anyone interested in co-authoring it.
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I don't know of any senior citizen who wants to have a walker. When I had my knee replaced, the walker was an annoyance that I couldn't wait to get rid of. If she is asking for one, by god, she needs to have it.
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I do just wonder if the doctor would be surprised to hear that he said that. Things can so easily get lost in translation, don't you find?
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Veronica - I could help you write that book. I have run into way too many people, medical and otherwise, who think that depending on assistive devices is an universally bad thing. I heard a nurse tell someone not to send a spinal cord injured patient to an excellent rehab facility "because they just put them all in wheelchairs there." Of course - we should just keep them in bed until the miracle occurs or the research is all approved by the FDA and they can walk again, right! I've had school-age patients carried in to clinic or plopped in infant strollers or little red wagons because We Don't Want A WHEELCHAIR! And Lord knows how many people are homebound or can't go anywhere without help, or have preventable falls because using a walker makes them "dependent" or they are for "old people." Sorry, but holding on to walls and tottering around instead is NOT more independent. At some point, maybe people can look at assistive devices the way a rehab doc does, as ways of getting around faster, safer, and further - of doing more, not less, with your life within the abilities you have.

That said, once in a while someone gets a wheelchair and plops down in it and stops walking even the short distance they can, or someone with a conversion disorder or pain problem acquires a bunch of equipment and uses it to create more legitimacy for a "sick role" they are living in. I can count those cases on one hand though, after 30+ years of practice, and one was just a teaching video, not my personal patient.
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Did you hear the doctor say that? Or did you get that third hand?

If a doctor told me that using an assistive device would make my 91 yo mother "Lazy" I would shout "So what?" but I wouldn't stick around for the answer.
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My advice Beware if Brain Dead doctors. You got yourself one. Get a new doctor
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Make her lazy?! How about keeping her safe and feeling more secure? What care have you lined up for her after you move out?
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Oh my word!!! I can't even imagine a doctor (who was worth having) would make such a stupid comment. After a horrible fall, my Mama had to use a walker beginning at age 88...It allowed her to continue mobility somewhat for another couple of years (with some assist with me here) Any doctor who would say such a thing imo is not worth having and I would find another doctor...
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The doctor is an idiot. My mother who lives with me has had p/t for a broken hip - all the physical therapists always stressed to ALWAYS use the walker to help with balance. Get a new doctor for her and let her keep using the walker. (:
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GuvnaBee, as jeannegibbs had asked above, did you actually hear the doctor say that?

If not, maybe your Mom misunderstood what the doctor was saying, or in her own mind she believes using a walker will make her look older and this "lazy" was the best excuse she could come up with.
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I know everyone here is down on the Doc, but he might have a point. Sometimes the more assertive devices you give a person, the more they will degenerate. If she can SAFELY use a cane it will help keep her balance and leg strength in tact, which is a good thing. A full PT eval would be the way to determine what was best - especially if it could be done in the home. The PT could also double check on the safety of the seat elevator.
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Oh, goodness. If she needs a walker, make sure she uses it! Bless her that she knows she needs it. And switch doctors! My mother refused to use her walker, would only use a cane which can be a tripping hazard and doesn't help if one loses ones balance. Because of it Mom fell several times and now is in a nursing home. If she had used the walker she would still be in the lovely assisted living facility and mostly independent. Instead she is sitting in a wheel chair, and helpless.
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Nothing, nothing is more important than a senior avoiding a fall and breaking a bone! Whatever it takes to keep that from happening, do it! I broke my ankle last year. I'm only 68, and in good health and I can tell you it totally exhausted and destroyed me for 2 months - not able to get around weakened me. Imagine someone 91 falling and breaking a hip. Its the beginning of the end. My mother's last fall because she wouldn't use a walker put her in the nursing home for the rest of her life, an invalid. Let your mother use the walker. If she needs exercise, find out how it can safely be done.
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My grandma uses a walker to keep her steady. If anything it makes her more willing to walk as before without the walker she would cry saying she was afraid of falling. The walker is great and wonderful. I don't know why a doctor would say what he did to her. A walker is just something she still has to push but is there to make it so that she can keep from swaying while walking and will keep her walking in a straight line and also gives you a place to sit in case you get dizzy. We have my grandma's all decked out with a cup holder, a book holder and a basket under it. I can't imagine her without a walker.

On a side note, my grandma broke her neck and pelvic bone two years ago. She couldn't walk but when PT came into the room at first she wouldnt' do anything. Wouldn't respond and was always saying she was going to fall so wouldn't stand up with them. I mentioned to them she used a walker at home so they had me bring it from home. She reached right for it and struggled to get on her feet and worked everyday with her walker to get back to my house where she walks around. So if any doctor says it makes a person lazy to use a walker, they are not a very smart or good doctor because I have found it gives my grandma motivation and the sense of safety to encourage her to walk. Without it I think she would be lazy and want to be pushed around in a wheelchair not feeling confident enough to be able to walk on her own.

So let her use the walker. Let her feel confident and secure while walking. I see nothing wrong with it.
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Thank you all.
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So has she been using the walker?
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My mother-in-law is 92 and suffers from vision loss and Parkinsons. She has started falling down and REFUSES to use a walker in the house. I wish she would. Actually, I think her instability and her insisting on using a cane keep her in the chair too much. She's too tentative, whereas with a walker I think she'd move around more and do it a bit faster.
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Michelle, perhaps you could take your mother to an assistive device store that's also a DME supplier and let her try out a rollator. My father was quite pleased once he did and rarely uses a walker any more. FreqFlyer, another regular poster, also got a rollator for her father and he prefers it as well.

After seeing how much more stability it has, I think it is far more stable than a walker. If your mother is tentative with a walker, she probably would be far less so with a rollator.
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Thanks Garden Artist. We did get her the narrowest rollator money could buy for indoor use. It really was perfect. She's just very stubborn and there are certain home devices she absolutely refuses to use. Given she doesn't have dementia, I'm not really sure how hard to push with some of these things.
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A walker is used for balance difficulties and to avoid injuries. My all means your mother need one if she feels she needs one. I agree with other's on Dr., find a new one A.S.A.P! My father suffers with Parkinson's and his Dr. told him years ago he needed to use a cane. My father "s pride kept him from using one and he fell time after time. Now he uses a walker. He still falls with the walker! He landed in the hospital after a fall trying to get out of bed! He spent a month in the hospital and whatever time Medicare allowed in the nursing home for rehab. He often leaves his walker when going to bathroom. He absolutely refuses to get a fall alert system or stay in nursing home even after two doctors told him that's where he needed to be! His logic makes no sense to me. He could cars less that he has my life on hold while I care for him 24/7!
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