Tribune. Beyond the revelations on the methods of certain establishments for dependent elderly people (Ehpad), the shocking book The Gravediggers (Fayard), by journalist Victor Castanet, questions our society and our consciences regarding old age. Our country, like other European countries, has aged with the arrival of baby boomers into old age.
According to INSEE, as of January 1, 2022, 21% of people in France are 65 or older, and nearly 10% are 75 or older. These are crucial ages for health and independence. However, our country is accumulating delays in the implementation of innovative methods of support and care for dependency.
The lack of time and the obstacle of cost are invoked to justify political renunciations. However, levers exist that would make it possible to combine the quality of life of our seniors as well as the working conditions of caregivers and home helpers, with budgetary requirements. Among them, prevention is probably the one that will provide quick and concrete effects on autonomy and costs.
Grabbing epidemic
Preserving autonomy and delaying the onset of cognitive decline to promote home care are two perfectly achievable objectives by mobilizing physiotherapists. The episode of the first confinement painfully demonstrated the importance of maintaining the mobility of the elderly.
For nearly five weeks, the confinement of nursing homes had suspended the intervention of physiotherapists, depriving residents of physiotherapy care. Four out of five residents did not leave their rooms. After confinement, the number of patients who had to be accompanied to walk doubled (two out of three patients) and, among the most fragile, one in four had lost this ability, becoming dependent.
Half of the patients who walked with a simple cane walked with a walker following confinement. The number of patients requiring a rollator to walk has increased by 60%. The worsening of the level of dependence in nursing homes during confinement concretely illustrates the strategic role of physiotherapy care. This epidemic of bedriddenness has had the direct consequence of an increase in the workload of caregivers, who are already in high demand!
Retirement and Screening
Preserving autonomy is the mother of battles, and initiatives can be taken without delay. For example, by allowing physiotherapists to offer all French people, when they retire, a physiotherapy assessment with screening for the risks of frailty. Adapted physical activity must be prescribed by physiotherapists, and direct access to rehabilitation care for balance and muscle strength authorized, to help prevent falls in the elderly, and thus fully maintain their autonomy.
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