Windsor Regional Hospital staff say their 'movement matters' campaign is improving patient outcomes.
They launched the campaign in September to help get patients up and moving while admitted to the hospital. Statistics show that patients can lose up to 5 per cent of muscle mass every day while in the hospital. This can make recovery more difficult.
"It's making sure that patients don't stay in bed, that we get them up and get them moving so that they can return to the level of function that they had prior to hospitalization," said Karen McCullough, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nursing Executive.
Since launching the initiative in September staff members have logged over 295 km of movement with their patients.
Martin Sobocan believes the program really helped his family member regain independence after a hospital stay. He says their family really bought into the program benefits and encouraged their family member to get up and moving every day while in hospital.
"Without the movement, I fully believe that our family member would have been in the hospital longer than two weeks and I'm not sure the progression of about 90 per cent returned independence and mobility would have been possible," said Sobocan.
The family member is now in a retirement residence when initially it was thought they would have to go to a nursing home.
Because of the improvement, Sobocan saw, his company Sobocan Insurance and Financial Services has decided to sponsor the Movement Matters program with new equipment to help patients feel more confident in their travels.