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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Making decisions about simple interventions
— older people's use of walking aids | | Author(s) | Rachael Gooberman-Hill, Shah Ebrahim |
| Journal title | Age and Ageing, vol 36, no 5, September 2007 |
| Pages | pp 569-573 |
| Source | http://www.ageing.oupjournals.org |
| Keywords | Walking aids ; Usage [services] ; Physical disabilities ; Attitude ; Longitudinal surveys ; Qualitative Studies. |
| Annotation | Walking difficulty is common in old age. Simple and inexpensive interventions, such as walking aids, provide considerable assistance. However, older people's views on walking aids are likely to affect their uptake, and we have little knowledge about their motivations for use. A longitudinal UK qualitative study with 11 men and 13 women aged 69-90 (mean age 80) at first interview explored views on their use of walking aids. Of the 24 people interviewed at the start of the study, 12 used walking aids, mainly walking sticks. These aids came from a range of sources, including informal ones. Over the course of the study, some participants adopted walking aids or changed the types of aids that they used. As time passed, participants' initial misgivings about use of walking aids subsided, and walking aids were described as improving confidence and facilitating activity and participation. Decisions to start using walking aids were influenced by both gradual and sudden changes in ability and by culturally informed views about ageing. Views on ageing initially acted as a barrier to the use of aids but then acted as facilitator to use. Walking aids enable continued activity and participation and it is likely that they provide benefits of health and well-being. Health care providers can draw on the knowledge about the impact of beliefs about ageing to help them reach shared decisions with older people about the use of walking aids. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-080508209 A |
| Classmark | MG: QLD: BN: DP: 3J: 3DP |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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