Manage your mobility and live life on your terms
Mobility is what enables you to be in control of life. Without it, accomplishing the things you set out to do, from making a cup of tea to enjoying the outdoors, is pushed out of reach. While our all too human bodies decline in health with every year, we are not powerless against time. By investing in exercise, smart home design and mobility aids, you can manage your mobility, and live life on your own terms.
Home design and mobility aids
The complexity of daily life really only becomes apparent when we age and mobility starts becoming an issue. All of a sudden we see steps, trip hazards and fall risks that were invisible to us before. The dangers of everyday tasks get magnified. Take a boiling pot of pasta as an example. When you consider the strength and agility needed to lift a heavy pot and manoeuvre it safely to the sink, you realise that home design can no longer be taken for granted.
Thankfully, Australia has building regulations that ensure many public spaces are accessible. We can learn from this type of design thinking and apply it to our own homes where we are most frequently exposed to safety risks. Adjusting our personal spaces with mobility aids prevents accidents and falls to keep you living at home, longer.
In many retirement villages you will notice that the houses have at least one entrance that is level to the ground. This is not just for wheelchair users. It only takes an object raised off the ground by a centimetre to throw a person off balance. A level entrance is a feature to look out for if you are buying a new home, otherwise, you can convert steps into a ramp instead. If there is a raised surface, be sure to lean on Walking Sticks and Crutches
Installing grab rails at key points throughout the house let you keep your balance in a wet, slippery area such as bathroom. Their value towards maintaining your safety should never be underestimated.
When designing a room, make sure there is adequate space for mobility aids. A poorly placed object can trip someone over. Or, rubbish, clothes and other objects can clutter the floor. Keeping the ground clear is the simplest way to improve safety. If you are unable to bend down, consider a claw or a reacher to help out with the picking up.
If getting up and down is a problem, lift chairs help tip you up, a great aid to get you back on your feet, literally. Lift Chairs
Mobility aids make life just a little bit easier. They remove effort while increasing safety. They are a great way to maintain independence and control over your daily life.
The importance of exercise
Taking up a personal fight against declining health is worth every visit to the gym. Exercise is the most important defense our bodies have against the ageing process. Movements that get you standing and working out lead to gains in muscle strength, flexibility and cardio vascular fitness. These health qualities directly translate to independent living and good quality of life.
A study by the University of Pittsburgh compared exercise modalities on over 300 over 65’s. They ran a seated exercise program, while another group performed standing exercises. Participants attended these gym programs biweekly over 3 months. At the end of the research period, the people in the standing exercise group could walk five times faster. This is a remarkable result, however, the psychological improvements are just as intriguing. All of the people on the program who attended either the seated or standing classes were “also showing high levels of independence and control, setting themselves personal and meaningful goals, and also gaining a sense of achievement from their efforts.”* It appears that getting the blood pump pumping with exercise enhances your mood and outlook on life, at every age.
When it comes to developing your own fitness regime, find something that you enjoy enough to attend regularly over the long term. Exercises that focus on coordination and timing are recommended. They enhance agility by getting the neural and musculoskeletal systems cooperating. You will know what level of activity is realistic for you. Just remember that you don’t need to be doing high impact running or hiking long distances to benefit from exercise. You just need to get going.
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