She is 82, with advanced Parkinson's and dementia. I have to move her from living room to her bedroom. Sometimes she doesn't walk at all. Most times she is frozen, standing at her walker. When she does walk she takes little, tiny steps. To make her move, I gently push her. I hate doing this.
when frozen.
We found a great way to help walking and it’s safer than always using the walker. Sometimes the walker is a good idea.
Here’s the method:
Your MIL walks with you, almost like a tango dance. The helper (you) walks carefully backwards. Your MIL walks forward with her hands on your shoulders. You keep both your hands under her armpits, in order to hold onto her in case she falls. And then you walk together like this. When she gets frozen, you continue slowly walking backwards: her body will naturally follow. If she’s really frozen, you can march in place, even saying out loud “1,2,1,2”, as she feels the rhythm of your feet. At some point she’ll get un-stuck again and continue walking. You can also lift your MIL’s body slightly upwards, with your hands under her armpits, and then continue walking backwards. This sometimes also helps to get unfrozen.
Of course this method only works if she’s still mobile.
For us, this works really well with my uncle. We go almost everywhere like this, even to the car (and we put the walker in the car, in case we want to use the walker later, at an appointment).