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Equipment

Walking aids

For someone still walking but no longer steady. The choice is mostly about how much support the arms need to give and whether a seat to rest on matters.

Walking aids: 10 items

How to choose a walking aid

The choice comes down to how much support the arms need to give, and whether somewhere to sit matters. Getting it wrong causes falls in both directions: too little support and they stumble, too much and they lean on something that rolls away.

Walker or rollator

A standard walker has to be lifted or pushed and it stops dead when you let go, which suits someone who needs to lean on it. A rollator rolls freely and relies on hand brakes, which suits someone who walks reasonably well but tires or loses balance. A rollator is not simply a walker with wheels. We set this out in walker versus rollator.

The seat is a rest stop, not a ride

Rollator seats are for sitting on once you have stopped and set the brakes. Nobody should be pushed along while sitting on one. They are not built for it, and the front wheels swivel.

Set the handle height before the first walk

Standing upright with the arms hanging relaxed, the handles should sit level with the crease of the wrist. That leaves the elbows slightly bent when walking. Handles set too low push people into a stoop, which is its own fall risk.

When a cane is still enough

A cane goes in the hand opposite the weaker leg and moves forward with that leg. A quad cane stands up on its own and gives a wider base, but it is slower and needs a flat surface for all four tips to land level.

What this equipment costs, and who pays

Medicare Part B covers medically necessary durable medical equipment when a provider prescribes it for use at home. After the Part B deductible you pay 20 percent of the Medicare approved amount. Hospital beds, commode chairs, walkers, wheelchairs and scooters are all on Medicare’s own list.

Whether one specific item qualifies is decided case by case, so ask the clinic’s social worker before paying out of pocket. Check that the supplier is enrolled in Medicare and accepts assignment, and ask whether the item is rented or bought, because that differs by equipment type.

Our guides to free and low-cost equipment programs and financial resources cover the routes that are not Medicare, including loan closets and nonprofit grants.

Coverage details from Medicare on durable medical equipment.

Guides on this site

• Walker versus rollator
• Transferring safely with a rolling walker
• What to do when someone falls
• All nine transfer techniques