Are mobility scooters the answer when someone becomes frail and can no longer walk?

Definitely it's "use it or lose it" as people get older. Ask her doctors to speak this message early and often and loudly. My Dad keeps wanting a scooter too, but how that works indoors without killing the walls and the furniture and scaring the pets is beyond me. The scooters are smaller, as you point out. but the driver isn't necessarily adept, or able to see everything. And, while "smaller" than the ones in stores, they still take up a lot of real estate. Finally, someone at the VA clued me in to the fact that, when they get so frail they can't get around, SOMEONE still has to get them on the scooter, and be with them at all times for when their balance shifts and they risk falling off the scooter and doing more damage than if they just fell walking. So they aren't machines for independence for the truly frail. They actually are to help people who are pretty robust but have a locomotion issue to solve.
So my Dad can dream of his chariot, but it ain't gonna happen -- same as I wouldn't give the keys to the car to a five year old. Stick to your guns, and get help from your doctor to explain all this, if you need to.

I tried researching this topic online and find nothing but Scooter Ads :0( She is beyond 'reasoning' on this issue, sadly. Just like your dad, it is her 'dream.' Her doctors, therapists, etc. have all tried unsuccessfully to keep her active. I hear her tell her sister and sister in law on the phone that everyone keeps trying to make me exercise - but when it HURTS - I just won't do it. Well, she hurts all the time = never exercises. After her surgeries the only time she moved was when the PT's came here and made her do her exercises. She NEVER, EVER did them between their visits. It angered me that they would tell her how great she was doing (that only reinforced to her that she didn't NEED to do anything more than they were doing FOR her! They were probably just trying to be positive - but ultimately she has suffered because she never regained good mobility after her knee surgery. Now, her only exercise is moving from bed to commode, commode to chair, chair to toilet or commode and back to bed. She just gets weaker and weaker.

I do have to give her a little credit lately. She suffered a small stroke (she isn't sure when - she didn't tell us for several weeks!) and now she takes a full sz aspirin each day and walks to the front door twice a day - about 100 - 150 steps per day. Hopefully, this will help her. To hear her talk - she is doing a Marathon each day :0) But, we compliment her - it is more than she was moving. Hopefully, it is enough to keep her blood moving.

I've often wondered about these scooters too. From the commercials it seems you would also need a ramp up to a big van to move them to and from other locations. (Wouldn't work with our Toyota Corolla!) I think that's why you really only see them mostly on the TV ads and not so much in the real world.

You can get a gizmo that attaches to the rear of your auto - I saw someone drive their scooter up onto one the other day. He then got off of the platform and 'walked' around the vehicle (unaided) and got into the drivers seat and drove away. He looked to be about 65 or so - NOT 85 or frail. There is a big difference between 65 and 85 or 90.

I personally feel we should encourage our older ones to remain mobile - to move around as much as they are able - for as long as they can - for their own well being.

My MIL sees these commercials all the time and wants to think that putting around on one is her 'next step' once she can no longer walk. She has had two knee replacements - and one revision. So, that knee has had three surgeries. She has pretty well lost her balance - she cannot stand without hanging onto something. She isn't even able to walk while holding onto someone's arm anymore. She must LEAN over her walker. She can no longer lift her feet. She has to use her arms and grab her pants leg or the leg of her pj's to drag her legs in/out of bed and I have to lift her legs in/out of the car. How could someone this 'weak' manage a scooter safely on their own? Especially if she gets so weak that she can no longer walk.

I do think the companies who sell these things 'prey' on older ones - I mean really elderly - and give them false hopes. I agree 100% with JaneB - 'use it or LOSE it.' I don't want to have to hover over my MIL to make sure she isn't running into things and how in the world would she be able to get on/off to go to the bathroom or get into bed without help? I have to help her now to use the Wal Mart scooter and they are HUGE compared to the ones for home use. I have also heard that the smaller ones can tip over - so, personally, I feel they are not a safe or reasonable option for the truly old and frail.

Most of the people I see riding them are not truly OLD - they may have knee issues or heart problems, etc. but are still in relatively good health and have a reasonable amount of strength.

If anyone has had a POSITIVE experience of having a truly old, frail, weak family member safely using one of these scooters, I would like to hear from you. But, so far, it looks like there aren't many out there.

Well, I have patients who use them, and the good part about scooters is that if you have some use of your lower body, you can get up and down from them easily; the seats swivel, the tiller can be used as a support, and the platform is not high, so that getting into the seat is facilitated. A lot of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy or adult SMA patients with moderate to severe proximal weakness can use them well as long as trunk control is reasonable for sitting in an office-style chair rather than needing full support. So rather than just sit in a recliner, you may at least get that much muscle use. I had really wanted my mom to get one and SHE refused, though she could not walk far at all and could barely push her manual wheelchair due to pain and weakness from arthritis and lack of exercise. For some people, a scooter means being able to get out into the community, or to get around a home or facility independently and safely, and the overall increase in mobility may lead to better mood and more rather than less "exercise" to some degree. It is very possible to use a scooter or wheelchair of any sort to expand horizons and go places you could not otherwise get to, rather than *instead* of walking whatever distance you can actually walk. As a rehab professional, I tend to see the person who uses equipment to do more things as more independent and free than a person who simply, and usually progressively, limits themself to what they can access without any assistive devices.

My mom was one who just limited herself, and it was painful to watch. She gave up reading rather than use magnifiers; she decided she "hated" Bingo when it got too hard to get there. She could have come shopping with me instead of just yelling at me or the neighbor when we got the wrong thing at the store.

The ability to move yourself around your environment, even if there have to be limits because of cognition and safety, is huge psychologically and reduces anxiety and depression quite a bit. We will try to get patients who are recovering from Guillain-Barre syndrome to use power chairs even in the hospital even though they may end up walking quite well in a matter of weeks just for that reason alone.

On the down side, I do agree that some of the companies selling scooters are unethical. Some people have been sold equipment that they do not need, do not actually qualify for, and/or cannot use, and this is so wrong when so many who genuinely need equipment can't get it and health care dollars are so scarce. You do have to be able to stow the equipment if you are using it somewhere you have to drive to, though there are van services availble for a fee, and some scooters are lighter weight and easy to put on a trunk-mounted carrier then take the few steps back around to your car door if travelling independently. And if you are going to get something, get it before entering a skilled nursing facility because it is not generally covered once you are there...the facility is considered responsible on the basis of the coverage for the stay, and they will typically provide a very basic manual transport type of chair only, and maybe a plain foam cushion.

Re other concerns: It does not take as much skill to operate a scooter as it does a car, and vision does not have to be perfect - it really does not have to be any better than it does for walking mobility. I still keep a picture of one of my patients driving down the aisle of a toy store who learned to use one with time and training despite CP, moderate MR, and moderate to severe cortical vision problems. The dents in the walls and dinged up baseboards can usually be fixed. It truly requires an *individual* assessment of abilites, environment, and personal goals to decide - there is no "one size fits all" when it comes to mobility aids.