As doctors say, most health problems can disappear if a person is physically active, I guess this holds true for the elderly also.
As we grow older, the wear and tear of body parts starts to affect our Quality of Life (QoL). While a simple knee pain or low physical stamina can impact our emotional, physical and mental well-being, however this gradual health decline can be avoided or rather delayed.
The larger point of debate is, what is it that the elders can do to avoid becoming physically rusted and/or getting decommissioned.
Though it is easy to give advice on the benefits of walking, jogging or other physical exercises, the question is how many people actually follow them?
Even if our inner determination to become physically active awakens one day, the problem is, we tend to lose steam and go back living a sedentary lifestyle after a few days of efforts.
Typically most people require external support and motivation to keep a track on their physical activity, the elders are no different.
For the overall well-being of older people, it is important for care staff and family members to undertake regular assessment of physical activity levels for their elderly parents or residents in a care home.
A simple checklist not only helps in keeping track on the level of physical activities, it also serves as a timeline/trendline in understanding any future health problems.
Since India is on the right trajectory w.r.t eldercare, hence it is important that at the ground level the care staff should be trained to monitor and record simple to use guidelines.
Though there are many Physical Assessment modules available on the internet, somehow I found the attachment guide on “Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity” (RAPA) developed by University of Washington Health Promotion Research Center to be short and crisp.
The document can be downloaded here (Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity) or can be viewed below