Abstract

The way older adults move is significantly different and progressively changing as part of an overall decline in physiological and mechanical function in the normal ageing process. The aim of the article is to provide an insight into how positioning of the skeleton and the musculoskeletal system contribute to an older person's capacity to remain independent and mobile, two key factors in their overall health and wellbeing.

Certain medical conditions can greatly influence the capacity people have to move; and they can become identifiable not as individuals but as the diseases they have been characterised by in their outward physical appearance.

Many HCAs will have no previous knowledge of the terminology of human walking and this article offers a basic introduction to how the gait cycle works and how this changes in ageing. Posture and stability are two pivotal elements to successful ambulation and these are considered alongside the overall concept of movement in older people. From a practical perspective, it offers a means of HCAs being compassionate and understanding about the ease of movement older people live with on a day-to-day basis.