Living independently in old age despite declining mobility
Living independently in old age is the wish of all people who are gradually approaching retirement age. Yet the ability to move around often declines with age.
Declining mobility threatens various areas of everyday life. For example: being able to get dressed and undressed without assistance, as well as having freedom of movement in everyday life inside and outside one's own home.
In this article about independent living in old age, we cover the following topics - with one click, you can reach the section you want:
- how exercise helps counteract some effects of aging
- Dressing and undressing independently despite physical weakness
- Putting on and taking off shirts and trousers
- Buttons and zippers
- Walking aids for unrestricted mobility in everyday life
- Walking aids and other assistive devices in the GKV medical aids directory
Counter age-related weakening through physical activity
What was previously taken for granted suddenly becomes difficult. Arms and legs become weak - to the point where it is barely possible to support one's own body weight. The hands lose their grip strength and dexterity - objects become harder to grasp or pick up. Deep bending down is no longer an option for many seniors anyway. Joints give out and arms and legs no longer want to bend and straighten as effortlessly as they once did.
This effect usually develops gradually over many years, with the body also deteriorating more quickly as we age. One of the main reasons for this is lack of exercise. Even daily walks are enough to keep the body fit well into old age. You do not necessarily have to play sports for this.
The body needs to move - joints wear out and muscles atrophy when they are not used. For example, the cartilage in the joints and joint capsules are ideally supplied with oxygen only through regular movement. Exercise therefore also serves as prevention, helping people avoid becoming dependent on others.
Many modern medical assistive devices are designed to compensate for declining physical performance and abilities. They help people manage daily routines such as dressing or going to the store despite limited mobility and physical strength.
In the case of dressing aids, such assistive devices can also help restore lost mobility after an operation or illness. After all, even with reaching aids, sock aids, or similar products, patients still have to move independently. The effort and extent of these movements are reduced - not eliminated.
Even simple movements - including with assistive devices - help maintain mobility into old age
Regular exercise and independently carrying out everyday movements - with assistive devices if necessary - therefore have various positive effects for seniors.
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Joint cartilage is better supplied with oxygen
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Joint mobility is maintained for longer or can be improved
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Muscle loss is slowed or halted
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Exercise is good for overall circulation
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more independence and self-determination in everyday life
Getting dressed and undressed despite physical limitations
Dressing aids help all people whose age, illness, or injuries restrict their mobility with their daily dressing and undressing.
Putting on and taking off clothes is a complex process involving the movement of numerous muscles. The body has to bend, twist, and stretch - arms and legs are bent and straightened. The fingers often have to perform delicate movements to open buttons or zippers. For most young and healthy people, changing clothes is an absolute routine and requires no effort whatsoever.
Things are quite different when age or illnesses weaken the body or the limbs and joints have become stiff. Patients are also often restricted in their motor skills and physical strength during the rehabilitation phase after operations, or they lack the necessary balance. An assistant or caregiver is often necessary to help those affected change clothes.
However, the more movement sequences that seniors, sick people, or convalescents can perform themselves, the better. If dressing aids are used, it is often possible to manage without assistance from others.
Putting on and taking off shirts and trousers
With shirts and trousers, the tube-like sleeves or trouser legs must be pulled over one's own limbs. The shoulders and elbows perform a complex interplay of bending and straightening. Anyone who finds these movements difficult is advised to use a dressing stick.
These arm-length rods have gripping hooks for pulling on shirt sleeves or picking up clothing. The Deluxe dressing aid from Behrend, for example, has a differently designed hook at each end.
In old age, complicated movements such as fastening buttons can often only be performed with assistance from another person
Opening and closing buttons and zippers
Opening and closing zippers or moving buttons through their buttonholes requires considerable dexterity. Yet especially in old age, conditions such as osteoarthritis reduce the mobility of the fingers. Injuries to the fingers and hands can also severely restrict their motor skills.
Since many everyday garments are fitted with buttons or zippers, the problem is literally at hand. Anyone who no longer has full strength and mobility in their hands and fingers must resort to alternative clothing, require assistance from others when dressing, or use aids to be able to dress and undress independently again.
To move the slider of a zipper, its pull must be held firmly between the fingers. It often also requires a certain amount of force to open or close a zipper. The biggest problem is probably that the slider is usually so small that it is difficult to grip
Zipper extensions are suitable for all types of zippers
This is where zipper extensions come in. They are fabric loops attached to a plastic clip. The loop is attached to the zipper slider, allowing the zipper to be opened and closed using the loop. To do this, open the plastic clip, pull the loop through the hole in the pull on the zipper, and then close it with the clip.
Now all you need to do is put one finger through the loop to move the zipper slider. Outside assistance may only still be required to attach the zipper aids. By the way, these practical dressing aids are not just suitable for clothing. Bags, backpacks, and duvet covers are also often fitted with zippers.
Tip: Where possible, wear clothing that is easy to change. There are many solutions for minimizing the hassle of buttoning or threading zippers. For example, wear pants or skirts with elastic waistbands - these can be put on with minimal dexterity and then stay securely in place. Hook-and-loop fasteners are a good alternative to buttons or more complicated fasteners with hooks and eyes. Lace-up shoes can be fitted with particularly elastic shoelaces, allowing you to slip them on and off like slip-ons.
Moving freely through everyday life with walking aids
Walking aids are available in many different forms. They range from simple walking sticks or crutches, which can be used on one or both sides, to wheeled aids such as walking frames and rollators. A doctor should always be consulted when choosing a suitable walking aid. It is important that it be adjusted so that the user adopts the correct posture.
With forearm crutches or underarm crutches, adequate padding should prevent pressure sores from developing on the skin during use. Here too, the handgrips on many models can be adjusted to suit the user's height.
People without mobility impairments also sometimes use aids such as walking sticks or trekking poles to provide weight relief. Modern walking sports such as Nordic walking also use special, technically sophisticated walking poles.
Wheeled walking aids either have three wheels and are called delta walkers, or four wheels, in which case they are considered rollators. Users push these assistive devices in front of them and can support themselves on their handles. However, they are not attached to the walking aid, seated on it, or secured to it, as is the case with a wheelchair or the suspended frame of a walking frame.
Rollators therefore require a certain amount of strength and physical control to remain. However, models with lockable wheel brakes and fold-down seats also serve as a seat if strength briefly runs out. Otherwise, the advantage is that a good portion of the body weight rests on the handles and the frame, relieving the user's legs.
Since baskets for shopping or food, umbrella holders, and other accessories can also be attached to rollators, they are also ideally suited to longer distances, such as walks in the park.
Walking aids in the GKV assistive devices directory
In the assistive devices directory of the statutory health insurance system (GKV), a distinction is made between walking aids for indoors and those that can also be used outdoors.
Accessories such as cane tips, cane holders, cane caps, or other walking aids are grouped together as mobility aids without a specific place of use.
For the medical aids listed in the SHI register, health insurance funds cover the costs when necessary. The directory is updated regularly and contains more than 30,000 products for a wide range of medical or therapeutic purposes.
Many products from the medical aids directory can be purchased in the online shop of Medicalcorner24®. In addition to walking aids, our range also includes other medical aids that make everyday life easier for seniors or people with reduced strength. Alongside care aids for greater independence in daily life and mobility, we also offer toilet aids, bathing and showering aids, incontinence aids, hearing aids, as well as various orthoses and splints.
