Mobility Milestones

Traditionally, milestones are used in pediatrics to track development from infancy and through childhood.  They include development in several systems including social, cognitive, and motor.  Milestones are sequential, and competency in performing a milestone builds the foundation for reaching the next one.  Although milestones are not used to assess development in older adults, the same concept of sequential foundations apply regarding functional activity.  For example, infants who cannot prop on forearms in prone will not be able to roll front to back, and older adults who cannot retrieve objects from the floor in sitting will unlikely be able to stand.

Unfortunately, in long term care settings, low effort visits are prevalent as therapists are overwhelmed with large caseloads, administrative tasks, and poor staffing ratios.  Mobility milestones are objective tasks that physical therapists can use to guide treatment.  The act of achieving the milestone serves as an intervention to improve functional mobility and caregiver burden.      

Mobility Milestones are a treatment philosophy which provides a more rigorous framework for therapists to use in place of vague goals.  Take a more structured, goal-oriented approach to your care. Contact us today to schedule your evaluation.