Quote Originally Posted by shootingstar View Post
there was signage on his hospital floor all over the place, for patients, to move around to remain healthier.
Ah, Canadian health care ...

That was one of the biggest problems with my FIL's care. Medicare and his gap coverage would only pay for one home care attendant. MIL, a bit younger but still in her late 80s, there was no way she could give the attendant any help in getting him out of bed and helping him walk, or later, transferring him to a wheelchair. They could have afforded to pay a second attendant out of pocket ... but to bypass insurance rules, they would have had to go outside any agencies and hire privately, they didn't know anyone who could refer them, and they weren't inclined to hire some random person out of the back of an ad circular (for which I don't blame them one little bit). The result was that he only got out of bed twice a week when the PT came, or when DH came the 500 miles to visit. IIRC, once it was clear that he wasn't going to get better, the PT was discontinued too, since most insurance will only pay for therapy to improve someone's condition, not to keep it from deteriorating. It was heart-wrenching to watch him go downhill for the simple fact that no one was available to get him out of bed.