Gerontology 130
Working with the Frail Elderly

"Proper Body Mechanics" Transcript

Assistant Professor Donna Schwab

In my profession of physical therapy we talk about body mechanics and when we talk about moving someone. Because your body is a machine and has moving parts and each of those parts need to be protected when moving or assisting someone in moving.

One of the first things you want to keep in mind is that your back is not the strongest part of your body and you don't want to injure it. Keep it straight when you're moving someone.

Your legs are the strong part of your body and you need to use them. And, we will be demonstrating how to use those when we go through the different procedures.

You want to keep a person close to you when you're moving them. If you reach out for a box that's two feet away from you and try and pick it up, it is a lot harder than if it is close to you and you could injure your back.

You want a wide base of support. We talked about stability a minute ago and we will be demonstrating that. So, that means you want your feet kind of spread apart so you are stable. You want to be able to move in the direction that your moving a person so your stable, and we will be demonstrating that.

And, the control of a person is not by their arm or their head or anything. It is at their hips. That's where our body weight is centered. And, that's where you want to control and support somebody when you are moving them. And, you will be using your weight to shift their weight. It's not a muscle man contest. It's using the things and certain principles that we'll demonstrate that will help you easily move the person you are caring for.

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