Mobility Matters: Supporting senior healthspan with the Kiwanis Club

Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with the Edward R. Murrow Kiwanis Club at Leonard Recreation Center in Greensboro, NC. My subject came easily, as it’s something I think about every day.

It’s the difference between lifespan and healthspan.

Most people are familiar with lifespan. That’s simply the number of years we live.

But let’s ask a more practical question: How many of those years are we able to live well? Because that’s what healthspan is.

It’s all about the number of years we remain capable of doing the things we want to do: walking comfortably, getting up from a chair, climbing stairs, traveling, playing with grandchildren, etc. From a physical therapist’s perspective, healthspan comes down to my patients’ abilities to still do what they want to do with their bodies.

One of the stories I shared with the gracious Kiwanian audience involved my grandmother, Edith. Late in her life she fell, broke her hip, and spent the remainder of her days confined to a hospital bed. It’s a story that unfortunately plays out all too often.

That experience raises a question: Could a physical therapist have helped her before that fall ever happened?

I believe the answer is yes.

A preventive and empowering form of health care

Much of what physical therapists do involves assessing fall risk and mobility. We look at how people walk, how they balance, and how easily they move from sitting to standing. Something as simple as walking speed can reveal a great deal about someone’s overall health and independence.

In fact, researchers increasingly treat walking speed as a kind of vital sign. (Read my article on gait speed here.) If someone walks slowly, it often correlates with poorer health outcomes. If someone walks briskly, they are generally more capable of caring for themselves and remaining independent.

What many people don’t realize is that physical therapy isn’t just for recovery after injury or surgery. In many ways, it’s one of the most preventive and empowering forms of health care available.

Unlike treatments that rely primarily on medication, physical therapy gives patients tools to help themselves. Through approaches like the McKenzie Method, patients learn exercises and movements that can reduce pain, restore mobility, and build resilience.

That’s why I sometimes suggest a simple idea: Why not see a physical therapist the way you see your dentist, once or twice a year?

A periodic movement assessment can identify small problems before they become big ones.

And there’s some happy news: it’s never too late to improve. Strength, balance, and mobility can be trained at any age. Resistance training, aerobic activity, and balance exercises all help counteract the muscle loss and bone density changes that occur with aging.

In short, mobility is not just about comfort. It’s about independence.

And that’s really the larger message I hoped to leave with my hosts. Living longer is wonderful. But living longer and staying capable is even better.

Protecting your mobility today may be the single best investment you can make in your future healthspan.

You can take a stand for healthspan right now!

Here’s a simple test physical therapists often observe without even mentioning it.

Sit in a chair. Now stand up.

Did you get up on the first attempt without using your hands?

If you did, that’s a good sign. It suggests that your leg strength and balance are working together the way they should.

If you needed to push off the armrests, rock forward several times, or pause before standing, that’s useful information too. It may simply mean those muscles aren’t as strong as they once were.

The good news is that strength, balance, and mobility can all be improved with the right exercises.

Physical therapists watch movements like this closely because they tell us a lot about how a person is functioning day to day. Something as simple as standing up from a chair can reveal whether someone is maintaining the mobility that supports a long and active healthspan.

Discover how physical therapy can expand your healthspan

Schedule a complimentary 10-minute Discovery Session with Paul the Physical Therapist at Cedar Hill Physical Therapy in Greensboro, NC. A Discovery Session is done over the phone or via video chat. CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE.