The local adult day care director says my sister qualifies for the day care program but doesn’t walk well enough with a walker. Any ideas?

Ask the director what your sister needs to be able to do to qualify. Then, ask doctor for a referral to physical therapy for evaluation and treatment to meet the goal the day care goals. If PT says sister can not achieve the goal, respite their evaluation and find another place. Most times, PT can help your sister to meet her goals but she will have to work hard during the day when she is not at PT.

Great suggestions all around here the only thing I would recommend before you invest in any type of device is get a physical therapist who will evaluate your sister and recommend the best device for your sister and trainer on how to best use it. Some of the devices mentioned here are great on its own but it could potentially but harmful if used incorrectly.

Best wishes

My LO too is funded for daycare but not mobile enough. Daycare required participants to walk, not be 1 or 2 x assist.

A care worker to home instead? Though the downside is this can vary.. (be a 'sitter' ie a phone scroller) rather than the stimulation & social benefits of a led activity group.

I am sorry I cannot think of any solutions... besides possibility of any daycare groups offered by aged care providers that may cater to higher mobility needs?

Caregiver2022: Perhaps your sister would qualify for a wheelchair.

See if she is qualifies for an electric wheelchair..

ask if you can have a small motorized item to help her. a small 2 wheeler - check on line to see if there is something you could buy

Hi Caregiver2022, I work with a lot of seniors who utilize adult daycare - it’s a really great thing to keep them active as long as possible. Here’s my recommendation: there is a feather-light electronic wheelchair that is easily transportable and has a joystick for maneuverability - I actually got in one and rode it around. The daycares where I live offer transportation to and from home and can accommodate taking the wheelchair with her in the van. Maybe that’s something you can look into? It’s a game changer for sure. I would recommend PT as well to prevent atrophy. Hope this helps!

I looked at an upright walker in a local pharmacy (Tooleys in Columbus, NE).

I don’t know if it was an UpWalker.

I wasn’t sure about it for two reasons: 1) I questioned its stability. 2) I didn’t think it would be easy to maneuver around the average home. Dad’s house has standard with halls & doorways.

I also saw the U-Step in person. I didn’t have the same two reservations about it. It also allows the person to move about upright. The U-Step also collapses.

From the comment below, it sounds like the UpWalker worked for that person’s Mom. I just thought it would be hard to use in my Dad’s house and I wasn't sure how stable it would be. The site for UpWalker emphasizes that it is engineered to be stable, so THAT would appear to be the best upright walker. I think it wouldn’t work in his house with standard doorways and halls though. Whereas, the U-Step I saw seemed more compact and maneuverable.

Just my thoughts having looked at (but not tried) both devices.

Ask the director to give you a list of exactly what the day care's program requirements are.
Different day centers have different rules. The one I worked in had a rule that a member could not be in diapers and had to be ablt to stand independently. Use of walkers or even wheelchairs was fine. So long as they were not in diapers and could stand.
If you explained your sister's situation to her doctor, they may order some physical/occupational therapy to help her improve with using the walker and may even recommend getting a different kind.
Does your sister have dementia? Will she remember what she learns from PT and OT teaches her about how to use the walker differently?

I’d get her some body work. Massage, chiropractor then physical therapy. Also, simple hydro bath or bath (warm) or sauna to release fascia snd her muscles.

Read up on the fascia in our bodies and how it affects strength, balance and agility.

If you have access to it in your area, try craniosacral work. She can lie down in her street clothes. It’s very gentle. It will release restrictions, fascia, etc. It’s wonderful.

You might also consider some chiropractic work and some physical therapy. Also, if she had hearing loss, get her hearing aids.

I've studied and tried different therapies for the past 35 years. We took my Dad through chiropractic work to release his neck. Physical Therapy had never addressed it. He’d had numerous falls and fender benders over the years. He wanted to get a backup camera, because he couldn’t turn his neck. I said “no, we need to address the problem with your neck.” Turns out that area of the neck also affected his balance and his swallowing ability—all things we were working on.

After we did the chiropractic work to release his neck and fascia throughout his body, THEN the physical therapy could build on that. His PT was excellent and focused on work to improve his balance.

HEARING: I just recently learned that balance is affected by 3 things. Your inner ear, your body (muscles/movement) and your eyesight.

https://www.nvcofny.com/blog/how-do-our-eyes-impact-our-sense-of-balance/

So I’m really interested in seeing if I can improve my Dad’s balance once we get hearing aids for him.

His upper & lower body strength is good, but he didn’t seem to have any core strength.

I tell you, you practically need to be a doctor to figure these things out!!

A friend who is suffering from a Parkinson’s type illness came in with this device. It’s phenomenal. U-Step. It’s very stable. Allows them to be upright. Helps them know where to place their feet. VA doctor said this is what he’d prescribe to every mobility challenged patient. I’ve been caregiving 8 years and have tried different devices. I was really impressed with this device. I plan on getting one for my 93 year old Dad. He has a rollator, but this is better.

https://www.ustep.com/

Good Morning,

Have you tried the UPWalker Lite. You can check out their website. This is not your gray aluminum walker with tennis balls that has the person all hunched over.

This has been my mother's lifeline. I am a firm believer in physical therapy whether it be at a short-term rehab and/or home services.

My mother (Lewy Body Dementia) at one one time time couldn't even put toothpaste on a toothbrush.

Fast forward (2) years later Mom attends one morning a week "respite" program with Speech Therapy and Physical Therapy. There is an RN on site and meals included. There is a fee and a co-pay with the therapies.

The UpWalker Lite gave my mother freedom. She can walk the entire market. There is a seat and a storage area. It's about $495. Nine months later after emails, phone calls and letters of "appeal" mom was finally reimbursed 80% of the cost through her insurance.

The online products on the ecommerce website that try to "copy" this model come in box for assembly. I did NOT buy this model. Also the copies have been known to not fit in the trunk of a compact car and not enough room around people's hips when they sit.

In other words, in my opinion, if you opt to buy the less expensive model, you may add to your troubles.

UPWalker Customer Service:
Phone: 1 (866) 588-1845
Email: customerservice@lifewalkermobility.com
Monday - Friday, 7:00 am - 7:00 pm Pacific Time

There are online photos. The results are amazing.

You can have your sister's PCP (primary care physician) write an order "prescription" before you purchase specifying this particular type of walker, if your doc approves of it.

It helps with balance, endurance, breathing and posture. The gray aluminum walkers that are passed out like candy upon hospital discharge don't work for the elderly especially for men.

On the other hand most people don't want to drop $500 for the model that will make the patient "thrive" as they say in the medical world. People approach my mother all the time and ask her what is that? Doctor's also have taken a photo and remark how lucky my mother is to have one. When my mother attends respite the other people remark I wish I had one. It's the best $$$ we've ever spent.

It folds in the trunk and can hold up to I think 300 lbs. Mom only weighs 115.
If they tire they can sit. There are handbrakes.

Find out from your sister's PCP if she should have physical therapy to help with her balance?

I hope this helps because I have been there and this piece of medical equipment has helped for my mother. But everyone's situation is different.

Yes.
Walkers are annoying,. It is an "only when you have to", or need something easily collapsible to put in tight space. Even w/ tennis balls on feet, I still think they are a fall risk.

My favorite by far is Drive Duet rollator. It has a built in seat, has storage under seat. It rolls. I am saving best feature for last. It collapses. It is height adjustable. You can add a cup holder attachment. It has brakes. It doesn't move unless you gently squeeze the hand grips.

Holds weights up to 300#.
(The bariatric version for over 300# isn't a duet chair).

SEND UP BALLOONS SPECIAL FEATURE!!!!

This chair EASILY converts from a rollator to a transport chair.

Why this is an exciting game changer. Let's say your sister wants to go for a walk. Or let's say she wants to check out a local museum, go to church, go to grocery, whatever - independently.
Visualize: She gets out of a vehicle, opens up rollator or someone does it for her. She puts her purse under seat.

She walks lets's say five minutes. She sits and rests She walks for awhile more.

Ut oh. She overdid her walking. She really feels she can't walk anymore...

Now what? Someone with her - or a shop/ museum employee, can help her back to her vehicle. How? The seat back support is removed and put on other side. (takes like 10 seconds) the foot pedals are kicked down w/ a stable foot ( 5 seconds) And now sister sits on seat from other side, uses pedals. So now it is a transport chair.

Person wheeling her has the upper handles with the grips and rolls her to her vehicle.

Example how I should have used mine: I have a trick ankle and knee. I overdid it walking from my van through a large hospital medical office complex. That "5 minute walk " took me 30 minutes, multiple stops, outside in nearly 100 degree F weather! I was fuming that security didn't know distance! But at this point, it was a five minute walk back to my van, so I just kept going to be on time. ( I was very late also as Doctor office had told me wrong parking lot #, so this was a mess from point of appt. booking.)

Doctor office then sent me to a closed blood lab, security to another lab- which also was closed, Now I am near fainting level and I knew I couldn't walk further.

No chairs anywhere to sit! I was ready to sit on the floor better than falling...

Security tells me I can't sit on floor-- but they aren't allowed to call me a wheelchair either. ( this is hospital property!)

Finally Security suggests I try walking across the passage bridge to hospital ( this makes 4th building I had to walk to that day!) and ask Security there for wheelchair.

That building had a bench. I rested 20 minutes. Went inside asked hospital security for a wheelchair. No, they couldn't help either. I am sent downstairs to main entrance security. Ah, surely they can help! 5 empty wheelchairs there and transport workers just standing around chatting.

I explain why I need a wheelchair. No, they can't help me either! I am not coming in as an inpatient nor going out as an outpatient!

Their solution?! Call 911, get an ambulance to arrive and gurney me to ER and be triaged there- then they can wheelchair me to my vehicle in parking! ( 4-8 hr effort!)

Seriously? I am near tears near hysterical over the lack of logic tying up ambulance services for a non-medical emergency! Then I was told "well, you should have brought an Aide with you!"
Why would anyone normally walking with a forty year old sports injury normally have an Aide with them?! Gee, I hate it when people blame the victim!

At least they had a chair open so I could sit and cry. Finally Security calls Transportation and gets "permission for one time only" for someone to wheel me to my van. 15 minutes later, wheeling time, I was back to my van. I could not have walked it. I was turned around. There are 8 parking lots. That rollator could have given me safety seating, saved me time, and eliminated a lot of stress. Now I do "Zoom only" internet appts with that doctor.

The rollater was a HUGE disaster for my mother. She didn't walk well with a walker so we tried the rollater. On the very first day she failed to use the breaks properly and it rolled right out in front of her causing her to fall forward. She broke her back, 3 ribs and her clavicle and also had two black eyes. Be very cautions with those! If your sister "qualifies" for day care then why can't she go? If she is having trouble being ambulatory and that is a requirement then perhaps getting her into the program any way you can would not be a good idea. I wish I had a better option but maybe you can hire a day time care provider in home? If she is low income many medicare and medicaid programs allow you to hire someone (even a friend or family member) to do day care in home and they will pay the person. Contact them and find out. Medicaid paid me to take care of my mom during the day. I would have done it for free of course but as long as I was eligible to be paid I took it. It helped pay her funeral expenses.

Has anyone considered using a rollator instead of a walker? After seeing how much more stable and versatile it is, our walkers went into the closet and the rollator became the support of choice.

My mom attended day care in a wheelchair BUT she had to be able to walk enough to use the disabled bathroom - which she was with an aid's help and the grab bars. They would change an incontinent pullup occasionally but they did not have the staff to do it at every trip to the bathroom. Mom usually came home dry in her original pullup as her incontinence was mostly stress (coughing) and when she slept.

BarbBrooklyn has the right idea.
An assessment by PT and possibly some PT sessions would help improve her ability to use the walker. And maybe a different type of walker would help.
If that does not improve her ability to walk eno9ugh the Day Program should accept her if she is in a wheelchair. Most likely they are concerned about liability if she should fall and hurt herself or someone else.

Would your sister qualify if she used a wheelchair while attending the day program?

I think you should consult her physician about getting PT assessment to see if therapy would improve her ability to use a walker, but in the short term, having her use a wheelchair might be the easier path to take.