Life is a balance.

So much of the message we try to communicate here at Hand2Help is about practicing empathy and understanding in your day to day life.

Balance problems can effect people with a range of mobility issues. This can also be due to vision and hearing impairments which can cause strong and persistent feelings of instability, insecurities, dizziness, light-headedness and faintness.

These feelings make living life to the fullest difficult. When standing upright for a period of time is challenging, daily activities such as bathing, eating, shopping, and cooking turn into hazardous tasks, and the inability to complete them can really affect a person’s self-esteem.

You cannot fix a person’s balance – but you can be a source of security. When a person looks unstable, you should feel confident to approach them and, literally and metaphorically, extend an arm of assistance. Treatments for balance problems are usually very simple and effective, but in the mean time, people need help completing their daily activities, especially when they are alone without a support person in the form of a friend, family member or carer.

For a person with a balance problem stemming from a mobility issue, knowing that they can count on members of the community to support them is life-changing. To be able to exit the house without fear or feelings of dependency ensures that everyone feels part of one big community.

Everybody needs support.

Understanding the problem.

“The hardest thing about lacking mobility is feeling out of control”

-Denise, 86

When you lack a sufficient level of mobility and dexterity, even the small things in life become difficult. Denise has the family over for dinner every Monday night. She spends the two days before preparing. She gets to her friendly grocer on Saturday, they don’t have what she needs. That means another trip to the supermarket.

For Denise, this is as much about people watching as it is shopping. She remembers a comment her grandson made at dinner last week: “Employers should look at prospective employees Uber ratings before they hire a person. They can see who a person is when no one is watching.”

Denise struggles to load her trolley and balance at the same time. She carefully plans what she makes for dinner according to which ingredients are the easiest to get off the shelves. Which ingredients are the lowest down. She doesn’t want to ask for help. The supermarket is understaffed as is and they have more important things to do. She usually doesn’t quite get everything and frustrated, she goes home with half her ingredients.

She feels isolated and alone. No one stopped to help Denise. No one stopped to think what was a little thing they could do to make a big difference in someone else’s life. The isolation one can feel leads to other mental health problems including social anxiety. It is up to all of us to make a difference.

Who is watching you in the supermarket? Or rather, who are you not watching out for?

The Butterfly Effect: how small things can make a big difference.

Pushing a button to signal the bus to stop is something we do almost automatically. It becomes as easy as breathing, you put your earphones in, listen to the latest Taylor Swift song, and try to forget the amount of coffee you need to drink to get through the day.

For Margret, pushing the button requires a five-step plan. She makes sure she stands near the front of the queue for the bus so she can ensure she gets the seat she requires. Not close enough to the front to become a burden to the people around her, or to be too
noticeable, just close enough. She gets on the bus slowly and carefully, trying to not annoy the easily irritable commuters behind her, desperate to tap their opal cards. She sits in the seat closest to the button. One of the red ones, which segregate those with disabilities and mobility problems from the rest of the morning commuters. She waits until the bus quietens and rounds the corner while she tries to balance enough to reach up to the button. She tries, and fails to push it without overbalancing. She misses her stop. By the time she manages to push the button, she’s two-hundred meters from her goal target. She’s frustrated. No one saw. No one cared.

You could push the button for Margret. You could be the change.

How you can help those who have previously had a stroke…

A major cause of limited mobility and dexterity in middle aged individuals is injuries resulting from a past stroke. Globally over 43 million people live daily with the damage caused by a previous stroke, and this particularly presents itself in stressful situations – including on public transport. A stroke can limit not only motor skills and dexterity but also verbal and facial function in order to communicate distress. Stroke victims also have higher rates of public transport adoption due to their injuries resulting in inabilities to operate a motor vehicle.

Standing for long periods of time, as well as having to hold onto handles, are often difficult for those who have previously had a stroke – and the signs can not always be obvious. If you see someone struggling or appearing uncomfortable on public transport, always offer your assistance or seat as they may be experiencing unseen pain. This includes offering to help people with heavy luggage or joining and departing of trains and buses as rushing during these activities is a major cause of incidents on public transport in NSW.

A third of stroke victims are under the age of 65, so it is not only elderly people that are affected by these types of injuries. Because of this it is important to not discriminate based on age – a stroke can affect anyone.

Be that person. Make a difference. Lend a helping hand.