Abstract:

Grabrail prescription is an intervention strategy frequently employed by occupational therapists to facilitate the independence and safety of older people and people with a disability in their home. This practice is likely to increase with increasing proportions of older people with a disability living in the community. Current protocols available to guide grabrail prescription such as the height at which they should be grasped, vary considerably, are inadequately documented and under researched. This is particularly true for the elderly and disabled, such as people with osteoarthritis. Therefore the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of vertical grabrail use on sit-to-stand performance and investigate the height at which a vertical grabrail may be grasped to assist the sit-to-stand transfer for ten women, aged 60 years and over, who were diagnosed with bilateral knee osteoarthritis.