How to ensure your parents retain their independence as they get older

Getting older is not easy, but it can be smoother than you might think.

If one of your parents is getting older, say in their 70s, 80s, 90s or even approaching 100 years old, you’ll understand that their mobility, safety and happiness is critical to the quality of their life. Nobody enjoys being less independent than they used to be.

A house is one symbol of independence.

For some senior Australians, as they get older, small jobs like making a cuppa can become harder and even start being unsafe. There comes a time when that older person – along with their family – need to make a plan for how they can maintain their independence for as long as possible.

Meet Harold

At The Physio Co (TPC), we have been working hard with an older fella called Harold, pictured above.  After a nasty fall, Harold suffered a severe hip fracture and ended up with a stay in hospital.  As bad as the fall was, it didn’t get in the way of him playing a game of pool!

Harold’s love for pool and his need to regain his independence was a brilliant combination for our physio, Gus. Harold’s rehab program, to help him regain some independence in his life, was focused heavily around his love of pool.

Harold made some great improvements in his walking, balance and strength during his twice-weekly physio sessions with Gus that included squats, calf raises, single leg balance exercises, side stepping, high knees and hamstring curls in between lining up his cue and playing shots on the pool table!

Not only did Harold’s walking, strength and independence improve while working with Gus, he was smiling more and playing more pool than ever before, ‘because the physio says he has to’!

Harold and Gus even played together: they loved it, have built a professional friendship together and both lived one of The Physio Co’s core values – ‘Find a Better Way’ – by combining Harold’s health goals with one of his passions.

Whether your Mum, Dad or the older person you help to care for, wants to stay independently living in their own house, to head home after a fall or illness, or to be more mobile, safe and happy in their aged care facility or retirement village, it is critical to work with a team of specialists that understand older people.

Working with the right physiotherapist can make all the difference.

After a fall or illness, older people sometimes have to make big changes to where and how they live, but it doesn’t always have to come to that. In strengthening muscles and working towards a goal, older people can take more responsibility for their health and make progress to their own happiest life possible.

That is our vision at The Physio Co.

We help older people and their families to set goals and work towards achieving them no matter where our clients live: in aged care facilities, in retirement villages or in their own homes.

On-site physiotherapy, wherever our clients call home, enables our specialist team to make the most of that home environment. If a home has stairs, for example, we can practise using them and make sure the right furniture is in the right place to make getting around as good as it can be.

Mapping out a plan

Another older couple we worked with wanted to be able to walk down their driveway together and get the paper and mail from their mailbox. We worked together with them and created a physio plan for them to do that safely every morning – it worked and they loved it!

Rather than taking away simple pleasures that mean so much to us all, The Physio Co’s caring team embraces these interests and passions to enable mobility, safety and happiness.

These are fundamental actions that inspire people to stay healthy in their own home for longer. And when the time does come to move into respite care, an aged care facility or a retirement village; the same TPC physio can help to make the transition easier for everybody.

The Physio Co understands elderly people and the whole team is passionate about improving the quality of life wherever home may be.

Interested in knowing more?
Please call on 1300 797 793 or email [email protected] 🙂