Hubcap gets his independence back

Hubcap went from using a wheelchair to mobilizing around the house with no walking aids, thanks to his exercise program.

John Morse is 69 years old and goes by the nickname Hubcap.

When Hubcap entered the Short-Term Restorative Care (STRC) program he mobilised around the house using a wheelchair due to chronic back, knee and ankle pain. When leaving his home, he would use walking sticks and needed to take rests regularly. He also suffered from high levels of anxiety and depression as indicated by the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) and The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) assessment questionnaires he answered as part of his initial STRC assessment. 

A major contributor to his anxiety was due to the fear of exercising, as he believed it would intensify his pain levels. This is a common fear shared among those who experience chronic pain.

Working closely with an Exercise Physiologist boosted Hubcap's motivation to exercise dramatically. He reported that he was surprised that he wasn't experiencing any abnormal pain after exercising. 

Hubcap went from completing no exercises at all before the program, to completing high intensity intervals on the arm ergometer (basically a bike for your arms), lifting 5kg dumbbells for bicep curls and shoulder press, and creating waves on the battle ropes. By the end of the program he was mobilising around the house with no walking aids.

In his final assessment, Hubcap said he enjoyed the program and felt better physically and mentally. This coincides with Hubcap's final assessment results as his GAI and GDS scores decreased, and improvements were made in his functional assessment results. He also mentioned that he had enjoyed the social aspect of meeting/working with the different allied health clinicians. Sandy, his wife, stated that she had seen a huge improvement in her husband's mood and physical wellbeing.

Since discharge from the STRC program, Hubcap has continued his home exercise program with the exercise equipment purchased through the STRC funding.