The Hidden Positive Impact of Caregivers on Mobility
When we think about improving mobility after an injury or hospitalization, physical and occupational therapists come to mind. Yet family caregivers also play an important role. A caregiver may spend more time with a person than their healthcare providers, creating opportunities to support safe movement throughout the day.
Caregivers offer many unseen, hidden benefits to their loved one’s care. This blog highlights several research-backed reasons caregivers improve the physical, emotional, and social health of the person they care for, and why it is important to continue engaging and caring for the carers.
Caregivers can create more opportunities to move
Healthcare providers often face time constraints or limited staffing, making it difficult to support every mobility opportunity. With appropriate training and guidance from healthcare professionals, caregivers may help with prescribed exercises, getting out of bed, walking, or participating in everyday activities more frequently. More opportunities to move safely can build mobility into daily life rather than limiting rehabilitation to scheduled therapy sessions.
Research supports this approach. A review of 40 studies found that caregiver-mediated mobility interventions improved patient mobility and activities of daily living, especially when caregivers actively participate in care team discussions and collaborate with healthcare providers.
Caregivers support practice between therapy sessions
Mobility is often improved through repetition. Family caregivers can help reinforce exercises and movement strategies taught by rehabilitation professionals, giving additional opportunities to practice skills such as standing, walking, transferring, or completing daily activities.
Evidence from a stroke rehabilitation found that caregiver-mediated exercise interventions improved basic activities of daily living, suggesting that involving caregivers may help support greater functional independence.
Caregivers provide encouragement and confidence
A large part of rehabilitation requires mental and emotional strength, not just physical. After an injury or illness, a person may feel anxious or uncertain about moving. A familiar caregiver can provide encouragement, reassurance, and motivation while supporting the person's goals and independence.
Importantly, this does not mean caregivers should take over rehabilitation or encourage movement beyond what is safe. Their greatest impact may come from working alongside the rehabilitation team, understanding appropriate techniques, and supporting the person to do as much as they can independently.
Caregiver involvement can benefit more than mobility
Supporting mobility can help caregivers feel valued on the care team. Caregiver engagement may improve caregiver outcomes, such as burden. Better caregiver engagement has also been associated with lower hospital readmissions.
For their loved ones, caregivers track schedules and medication regimens, lowering error rates. They can detect subtle changes in symptoms, side effects, or declining health, since they spend the most time with them. Furthermore, caregivers can be the strongest advocates, bringing up their loved one’s concerns, asking follow-up questions, and taking notes during appointments to ensure care aligns with their loved one’s goals.
Caregivers are invaluable collaborators for a care team.
Family caregivers should not be treated as observers or afterthoughts. With appropriate training and collaboration, they are invaluable partners in creating more opportunities for meaningful movement. Caregivers should always receive appropriate instruction from providers before assisting with mobility exercises, as the safest support depends on the person's abilities and health needs. Caregivers should be engaged by the healthcare team, not only for the patient's benefit, but also for the psychological benefits to caregiver mental health, which is crucial for a positive and long-term carer-recipient relationship.
In the next blog, we will discuss specific ways to engage caregivers in the healthcare team and how they can advocate for themselves.
References
Hughes, R. G. (Ed.). (2008). Patient safety and quality: An evidence-based handbook for nurses. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2651/
Yasmeen, I., Krewulak, K. D., Grant, C., Stelfox, H. T., & Fiest, K. M. (2020). The effect of caregiver-mediated mobility interventions in hospitalized patients on patient, caregiver, and health system outcomes: A systematic review. Archives of Rehabilitation Research and Clinical Translation, 2(3), 100053. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arrct.2020.100053
