Did you know that many older adult patients in rehabilitation hospitals accumulate as few as 400 steps per day? Being so physically inactive impairs their rehabilitation and has detrimental effects on their transition home and future recovery.

What are the barriers to greater in-hospital mobility? That was the purpose of an interactive #EndPJParalysis workshop I attended in February at Caulfield Hospital, spearheaded by geriatrician Dr. Amelia Crabtree. Amelia brought numerous stakeholders together to tackle this problem, including front-line nursing staff, nurse managers, researchers, executive staff and patients. Through role plays, we identified common barriers to mobility on multiple levels (staff, patients, carers, and system) and problem-solved possible solutions.

A core barrier that emerged during the workshop was the tension between patient mobility and hospital fall prevention policies, which is an issue that has been written about by Growdon et al.

Kudos to Amelia on hosting a terrific workshop on such an important topic. I had a lot of fun attending and learned so much!