Mobility Decline Prevention
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Modules - Mobility Decline Prevention
AN ONGOING INDUSTRY CHALLENGE
That we and other long-term-care researchers have met with only qualified success in designing effective and feasible exercise programs for frail residents reflects two ongoing challenges within the nursing home industry.
The first is the very frailty of this client population. Even when offered FIT, many of these very impaired residents will not regain their ability to function independently and safely. Most will continue to need staff assistance and supervision. Thus, this program, and probably others similar to it, cannot be expected to pay for themselves down the line through offsets in labor costs.
Second, understaffing in many nursing homes presents an almost insurmountable barrier to translating many efficacious clinical interventions into everyday practice. We as a nation need to take into careful consideration the resources needed to meet the standards of care we expect for our rapidly growing, frail older population.
That said, we're left with doing the best we can in an imperfect long-term-care system. It's time to move on. The pages that follow present instructions for implementing FIT. Along the way, we'll identify trade-offs you can choose between to provide the best care possible given your facility's resources.
WHAT'S NEXT?
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