Design for Agile Aging
Disability Exercise
Exercise: Hip replacement
Staff: Valerie
Normal symptoms: hip and back are sore, limited mobility
ADLs probably unable to perform: walking unaided, standing and sitting unaided
Emulation: Imagine that you’ve had hip replacement surgery on one hip joint, and that you’ve graduated from a wheelchair to a walker. While you can move somewhat, you need help to get around. It still hurts to put weight on your hip, and to change from sitting to standing and vice versa, but your physical therapist has told you that you need to at least try to walk a bit every hour. Maintain this limited mobility state for 8 consecutive hours.
Trial activities: (all require that you use a walker)
- Using your ‘good’ leg, sit down and get up out of a chair.
- Go up and down a set of stairs.
- Go through the motions of going to the bathroom.
- Carry some books or packages the length of a room.
- Fix yourself a cup of coffee or tea and get it to your chair.
Report:
What was the first functional limitation you noticed?
After 8 hours, how did your leg and hip feel? Did anything else hurt?
How did you adjust to your disability? How did you compensate for the hip? What did you find you couldn’t compensate for?
How did your motivation to move change, or did it?
If this were a permanent condition, what kinds of devices would you want to help you function?