Visited the therapy unit at Ohio Living Westminster-Thurber. At the therapy unit we interacted with patients and shadowed physical therapist during rehabilitation sessions.
Results from talking with patients included details on how particular assistive devices could be changed to help them feel more safe. Examples include: having better brakes on rollators because it is hard to stop on sloped surfaces, and having a place to carry/hold walkers when being transported in a wheelchair.
When talking to the therapists, one issue come up continuously, and that was anxiety. Whether the patient had a falling experience or is just afraid of falling, it prevents them from using equipment correctly. This was seen with a patient who had a tremor being afraid to use the walker. The lightweight walker would give cues to cause anxiety leading to the user being afraid, thus no using the walker properly.