Mobility Scooter for DM

[Icequeen01]

My poor DM (81) had a consultant appointment today for her arthritic knee!which is now extremely painful and she cannot walk any distance. Following x-rays the consultant said the only solution would be a full knee replacement but stated that due to her age and health issues this would be risky. Mum is understandably reluctant to have the op.

So I now need to find ways to help her still get out and about, albeit it mostly with me. She hasn't been able to come supermarket shopping with me for weeks and that really upsets her.

I wondered if anyone had any experience of mobility scooters? My mum doesn't drive and her spacial awareness can leave a bit to be desired but hopefully with a bit of practise she could manage this. I would be interested to hear of your experiences.

No experience but watching with interest.

The elderly people in my family despise being seen with even a walking stick, and cast evil eyes at innocent walking frames. I doubt they'd countenance anything as attention grabbing (in their eyes) as a mobility scooter.

It has meant a reduction (even pre-covid) in shopping trips and days out.

Pre covid you could hire them from some shop mobility type places.

@MayIDestroyYou

No experience but watching with interest.

The elderly people in my family despise being seen with even a walking stick, and cast evil eyes at innocent walking frames. I doubt they'd countenance anything as attention grabbing (in their eyes) as a mobility scooter.

It has meant a reduction (even pre-covid) in shopping trips and days out.

Exactly like my DM 😀 When we were at the hospital yesterday she was offered a wheelchair as the walk to the x-ray dept was so long (she has accepted the fact she has to use a walking stick now). She nearly took the receptionists head off with her very firm "No thank you!). Luckily the receptionist took it well and laughed and said you are just like my mum!

I should have put in my post that my DM hasn't been approached about this idea yet. I'm taking her to visit a friend she hasn't seen for 18 months tomorrow which involves a long drive. She will be in good spirits as she is so excited to be seeing her friend again. I'm going to subtly slip it into the conversation and see what her reaction is.

@Cheesypea

Pre covid you could hire them from some shop mobility type places.

Yes I thought you could too so this is something I want to look into.

As an Occupational Therapist I meet lots of scooter users. If I spoke to someone who was considering it I would suggest they not only tried a few out, but also compared with using an electric wheelchair which is easier to get in and out of and using far more compact. There are so many models of both and she really needs to consider what she wants to achieve and consider her home, where she would store it, how she would get to it( if stored outside) etc
There are some centres in the country ( our local was Banstead) where they had a full range of wheelchairs and scooters plus an outdoor area with hills and kerbs where you could try lots of models in an outdoor terrain. If she lacks spatial awareness I would be cautious.

Also Google Shopmobility as you may have Local shopping malls where she could just borrow a scooter/ powered chair for a few hours and then give it back
.

My dad held out against a scooter for years, but once he had one it transformed his life, and he told everyone how they should get one. He did all their shopping on it, and went from staggering in from the car park and being pushed round the supermarket by the staff to being able to go into the small town on it, stop and chat to people, go round at his leisure, go to fetes etc etc. He admitted that he thought a scooter was giving in, but actually he'd been cutting off his nose to spite his face as getting one opened up the world again.
My MIL (and actually FIL was even more against it as he wanted her to get better) was persuaded by offering a day out at lovely gardens where we hired a scooter for her and she loved being able to be out without bench hopping. She then insisted on getting a small one that can go in the car, though tbh it was really too late

@vdbfamily

As an Occupational Therapist I meet lots of scooter users. If I spoke to someone who was considering it I would suggest they not only tried a few out, but also compared with using an electric wheelchair which is easier to get in and out of and using far more compact. There are so many models of both and she really needs to consider what she wants to achieve and consider her home, where she would store it, how she would get to it( if stored outside) etc There are some centres in the country ( our local was Banstead) where they had a full range of wheelchairs and scooters plus an outdoor area with hills and kerbs where you could try lots of models in an outdoor terrain. If she lacks spatial awareness I would be cautious.

Also Google Shopmobility as you may have Local shopping malls where she could just borrow a scooter/ powered chair for a few hours and then give it back
.

Thanks so much for all the useful information. So helpful. I have checked and Bansted is just under 1.5 hours from us so would be perfectly doable and I really like the idea of her being able to have an opportunity of using one on a purpose built track! Can you by any chance remember the name of the company? I have tried Googling it but haven't found it.

Our local branch of Age Concern has mobility scooter to hire/buy. We're justing going through the process with MIL and she was much more convinved by their expertise than anything we said to her. She's got a scooter booked for a trial next week.

@PennineSpring

Our local branch of Age Concern has mobility scooter to hire/buy. We're justing going through the process with MIL and she was much more convinved by their expertise than anything we said to her. She's got a scooter booked for a trial next week.

Thanks so much for that. That's really helpful to know and definitely something else I will look into. My DM has done a bit of a U turn and whereas I posted previously that she seemed quite receptive to the idea she is now putting obstacles in the way. I'm sure if I can get her on one she will see the benefit.

I think it's hitting home that she is going to have to make some adjustments in her life. Lockdown also didn't help her memory so she's feeling very vulnerable at the moment.

Last week we took MIL and PIL to an RHS Garden where they have mobility scooters you can borrow for the day - lots of outdoor attractions have this option. MIL was happy to use the scooter there as she saw it as a benefit on her fun day out rather than a 'punishment', and really enjoyed herself. Maybe worth trying that as a first step?

I have been trying to Google it and I think it has become this but not sure if they still have the range of wheelchairs or not. Maybe phone them and ask.

qef.org.uk/our-services/qef-mobility-services

I am much younger than your Mum and need to walk with a stick outdoors - when this became necessary I made up my mind that I would hold my head up high and keep my back straight - it made me feel much happier about it.

I think the advice to hire and try options out is good.

And make sure she takes it slowly - my very elderly Dad did a bit of a wheelie on his mobility scooter when going too fast and tipped it over on himself and fractured his pelvis!

Also there are lots of lovely gardens to visit that offer mobility scooters or wheelchairs for visitors.

Mobility scooters are fantastic. As it turns out, people are unreasonably nice about it when a little old lady turns out to be crap at driving hers too

No need to buy one brand new - it's common for a scooter to outlive its owner - so you may like to consider buying one second hand. Biggest considerations IME are 3 / 4 wheel and 4 / 8mph.

Our local big Sainsbury’s had mobility scooters to use in the store - once i got mum started it became her favourite thing ever. Maybe give on a try in a local supermarket/ shopping centre first?

Mum was lethal - would throw it into reverse without checking behind, try to take the shopping centre one into shops when she could leave it outside and walk with her stick for that bit - but it made a massive difference to her quality of life.

Thanks so much for all your replies. I can't tell you how helpful they have all been.

@Mischance That sounds awful, your poor FIL. I didn't realise it would be possible to do that although I have been looking at some light weight scooters on line which would fit in my car and I must admit I was a bit concerned that they did look a bit too lightweight!

DM is still a bit reluctant and just rolls her eyes when I tell people we are researching scooters for her. I definitely think it is something she would only use whilst with me, which is fine but does mean she's stuck indoors during the week as I work full time although do get school holidays off so can take her out more then.

I wondered about Sainsbury's as I thought I had seen some scooters in there.

We had planned to take her to our local shopping centre yesterday as they hire them out and as it would have been after work we hoped the centre would have been relatively quiet for her test run. Unfortunately, I got held up at work so we had to postpone.

I'm 39 but have arthritis in knees and a mobility scooter. Frankly it is the single fun thing about the whole experience! I have a Strider model which is one of the flimsiest and lightest so I can load and unload it from a car boot myself, to give me independence (as then I can drive someone alone to use it) - if I would be driving it from the door only I'd get something a little heavier and more sturdy. Mine lives in pieces around the house (mostly under the drying rack!) or stays in the car boot full time with only the battery coming in for charging. The one drawback with a scooter is that when you go out you gave a scooter with you so you tend to sit door to door - I try to park and get off for the short walk I can do to get done exercise but that isn't always convenient, so you do need to make sure you use your legs still even if just in non weight bearing chair exercises at home.