Just Keep Moving, Even in the Hospital

Have a fitness tracker? A standing desk?  Exercise regularly? If you answered yes to any (or all) of these questions, you know how important it is for us to be active. It turns out that being active is more important than we thought, perhaps.  Kaiser Health News (KHN) ran an article in August, Elderly Patients In The Hospital Need To Keep Moving that features a project at a hospital to keep elders active. The article highlights “the coordinator of a unit designed to address the challenges specific to caring for the elderly. She told her new patient that throughout her stay, one of the main goals would be to keep her active… The medical center’s effort to get older patients up and moving while they are in the hospital is far from typical. Despite a growing body of research that shows staying in bed can be harmful to seniors, many hospitals still don’t put a high priority on making them walk.”

Part of the success of such a project is changing the mindset of patients and others.

In addition to employing specially trained staff who work together as a team, the Alabama unit has special handrails attached to the walls, low-glare lighting and non-skid floors. Every room has a walker and plenty of space to move around. Volunteers walk with patients, and therapists work with them on maintaining their strength.

Staff members try to disabuse patients of the idea that they are there to rest. “People walk in the door of a hospital and think it’s OK to stay in a bed. It’s not,” said [“the coordinator of a unit designed to address the challenges specific to caring for the elderly.”].

The article notes changing mindsets isn’t without challenges, and this project started with changing caregiver attitudes.  Why might there be some reluctance to buy-in to the idea of getting patients moving?  Well, the Affordable Care Act might be one reason: “The Affordable Care Act explains some of the reluctance by staff at many hospitals to get patients moving, experts say. Under the law, hospitals are penalized for preventable problems, including falls. Researchers believe that hospital staffers, to ensure their patients don’t fall, often leave them in their beds.” The article offers other reasons, such as lack of staffing or fear of being sued are offered. The physical layout of the hospital room and hospital may be more conducive to patients staying in bed rather than moving about. (think about the beds, the hospital tables, the remote controls, and more).

The results of not moving go beyond the hospital stay.

The impact of remaining so sedentary in the hospital can be devastating for older patients: It is puts them at greater risk for blood clots, pressure ulcers and confusion.

Immobility can also reduce patients’ ability to take care of themselves when they go home — a difficulty that persists a month after their discharge, according to Brown. And it puts them at higher risk of readmission to the hospital, according to research.

Immobility hurts older patients more than younger ones, in part because the elderly are generally weaker, have less bone density and are at higher risk of falling. Ironically, keeping a patient in bed, which is often intended to prevent falls in the hospital, can increase their risk of falling after they are discharged, experts said.

Being more mobile in the hospital can save money, too, as well as improve the patient’s health.  So now that you have read this post, put down your computer and go for a walk. See you when you get back!