A Caregiver's Complete Guide for Safe Mobility
and Independence in the Home

CONTENTS

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CHAPTER ONE: BODY MECHANICS

  • Oh, My Aching Back!
  • Anatomy
  • Posture
  • Good Body Mechanics
  • Principles of Safe Lifting

CHAPTER TWO: GENERAL MOBILITY GUIDELINES FOR TRANSFERS

  • Body Positions and Hand Placement, Considering Body Types
  • Considering the Care-Receiver's Assets and Deficits
  • Hand Placement for Transfers
  • Considerations for Different Disabilities
    • Parkinson's disease
    • Total hip replacement
    • Stroke with hemiparesis
    • Dementia

CHAPTER THREE: BED MOBILITY

  • Rolling
  • Scooting in Bed
  • Lying to Sitting
  • Hospital Beds

CHAPTER FOUR: TRANSFERS

  • Transfer Preparation
  • Sit-to-Stand Transfer
  • Wheelchair-to-Bed Transfer
    • Standing pivot transfer
    • Squat pivot transfer
    • Dependent squat pivot transfer
    • Sliding board transfer
    • Two-person transfer
    • Mechanical lift transfer
    • Repositioningin the wheelchair
  • Floor Transfer
  • Car Transfer
  • Transferring or Lifting a Manual Wheelchair into the Car
  • Navigating Thresholds and Other Obstacles to Wheelchairs

CHAPTER FIVE: ADAPTIVE DEVICES FOR EASIER DAILY LIVING

  • Grooming
  • Upper-Extremity Dressing
  • Lower-Extremity Dressing
  • Bathing
  • Eating
  • Meal Preparation

CHAPTER SIX: ASSISTIVE DEVICES

  • Canes
  • Walkers

CHAPTER SEVEN: FALL PREVENTION AND FALL-PROOFING THE HOME

  • Intrinsic Factors
  • Other Intrinsic Factors
  • Extrinsic Factors
  • Other Fall-Prevention Strategy - Exercise!

CHAPTER EIGHT: AFFORDABLE HOME ADAPTATIONS

  • Getting into Your Home
  • Kitchen
  • Bathroom
  • Bedroom
  • Living Areas
  • Laundry Room
  • Larger-Scale Modifications

CHAPTER NINE: WHEELCHAIRS

  • Types of Wheelchairs
  • Medicare and Insurance Guidelines for Wheelchairs
  • Motorized Wheelchairs and Scooters

CHAPTER TEN: PASSIVE RANGE-OF-MOTION (PROM) EXERCISES

  • How to Perform PROM Exercises
  • Shoulder Exercises
  • Elbow Exercises
  • Wrist Exercises
  • Hand and Finger Exercises
  • Hip and Knee Exercises
  • Ankle Exercises

CHAPTER ELEVEN: SEATED AND BED-LEVEL EXERCISES

CHAPTER TWELVE: STANDING AND BED-LEVEL EXERCISES
      FOR MINIMALLY TO MODERATELY PHYSICALLY IMPAIRED

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: STANDING AND BED-LEVEL EXERCISES

FOR MINIMALLY PHYSICALLY IMPAIRED

GLOSSARY

APPENDIX

  • Appendix A - Caregiver Organizations
  • Appendix B - Caregiver-Specific Websites
  • Appendix C - End-of-Life Planning, Hospice, and Bereavement Resources
  • Appendix D - Health Insurance Information
  • Appendix E - Homecare Agencies
  • Appendix F - Respite Resources
  • Appendix G - Training for Family Caregivers
  • Appendix H - Disease-Specific
  • Appendix I - Adaptive Equipment and Assistive Devices Resources
  • Appendix J - Home Assessment Checklist

ABOUT THE AUTHOR