My husband has PD with Dementia. He is not falling very often, but will slide off the chair onto the floor. Most of the time I believe it is on purpose if he is having trouble getting up. He is not getting hurt, but his knees are getting scrapes and "burns" on them because he will often then crawl to another piece of furniture. We have Luxury Vinyl Flooring so I am thinking if I could find the right knee pads it would protect his knees especially in the summer when he is wearing shorts. I recently bought some made for volleyball. He wore them for a good part of the day and when they came off, they left impressions on his legs. They were snug but did not seem too tight, but I am concerned they may lead to blood clots. Today someone suggested checking at Home Depot/Lowes to try some intended for kneeling on the floor when doing construction. I have been looking online and there seems to be a lot of choices. I do not feel we need the ones with a hard shell and those seem like they may be uncomfortable to wear all day.
Why don't you invest in a lift chair(recliner)instead since you say that he's having trouble getting out of his chair. A lift chair was great help for my late husband who was a fall risk as well.
We rented a chair-lift recliner for Dad to use and he loved it. The controls were easy for him to use, even when he advanced into dementia. The reason we rented as to make sure he could use that type of recliner. We rented it from a medical device rental store, they delivered, and at the time Medicare paid for the rental.
Thanks for your responses.
He had no trouble walking with the volleyball knee pads we tried.
He has a lift chair. He tries to use the chair controller to change the channels on the TV! He just does not always call or wait for help to stand up. It is the same for getting out of the bed, he will manage to slide off of the bed if I am not right there. We have an alarm pad on the bed but it does not go off until he is totally off the pad.
He has been going to PT for several years and his legs are strong but doesn't always remember how to get up, so he slides out. When on the floor, if he can get up on his knees he usually can crawl back and support himself on the chair, etc. and stand up. If I see him begin to get up I do help him but I finally decided, if not, let him do it his way rather than fussing at him all the time. Less stressful. Our PT suggested I was not letting him do as much for himself as he is capable so I have been backing off and lo and behold he finds a way most of the time.
And there is no charge for this service as long as your husband isn't hurt and requires to be transported to the hospital.
My late husband fell a lot and in 2018 there was a 2 month period when I had to call 911 nine times to have them come pick up my husband, and they did, and were very kind about it.
So please don't ever try and pick him up yourself as you don't want to risk hurting yourself.
Please don’t respond with suggestions of how to deal with the issues but rather my question about experience or opinions about knee pads.
I am not watching him struggle to get up from the floor. I have learned to go about my business while keeping an eye and ear on the situation because some days it happens over and over. Most of the time, like @freqflyer dad, he finds a way to get up or when he gets in a position where I can help him safely, then I do so. He rarely actually falls but when he has, I have used the “lift and assist” service provided by calling 911.
We knew someone who used knee and elbow pads because of falling due to Parkinson’s dyskinesias. Unfortunately he died several years ago so we can’t ask about his experience.
Thank you @AlvaDeer for the reminder about PT/OT. I will message the VA to see if it is something the VA will evaluate and provide appropriately. If not, we already have a PT but aren’t actively going because of the extreme heat and storms. I will text him in the mean time.