Discharged patients

i did a community prac with another physio student and we would visit patients houses to ensure that they were safe post DC in their houses. our role was to carry on their rehab and depending on their functioning level either refer them on to outpatients or community physio. often we were the first ones to visit a patient after DC and it was amazing to see that most of the patients sent home were unsafe in their homes. they were frequently sent home with inappropriate equipment, especially walking frames. in hospital frames are very easy to use and doorways are wider and they have huge showers/toilets but in the home envionment, frames proved to be particularly hazardous to elderly patients as they had small units and the frames were unable to go into the bathrooms, toilets and some doorways. patients would leave the frames in the lounge and furniture walk to try get to their destination. another thing we found out on this prac was that homes can be particularly hazardous for falls , so many of the patients we visited who'd had # NOFs had small rugs lying around and electrical cords from heaters, tvs etc... lying across doorways which are hazardous to more falls. what this prac made me realise was that when prescribing the safest walking aid, its not just important to look at the patient's mobility, its also important to ensure that the walking aid is functional for the patients environment so that they can use it in all situations. education about falling hazards such as removing little rugs, using electrical tape to tape down cords is also useful information that could be provided to patients prior to discharge. we drove a hospital car which was full of frames of various width as 9/10 times the prescribed aid had to be changed. it was an eye opening prac because when you're working in the hospital you feel like you are discharging the patient with all the necessary means to keep them safe, when truthfully at times its quite inappropriate. when working in an inpatient setting now, i try use this new insight to be as pratical as possible for the patient.