I learned a new term at the rehab unit the other day. Gait belt. Perhaps you already have encountered one of these, and if you have, I'm sorry. A gait belt is a big heavy strap or belt that probably hangs from a hook in a patient's room, wide, and substantial enough for even a very large person. The tech aid straps it around your loved one's waist before a practice walk. For a patient who needs to strengthen legs after an injury or joint replacement or even learn to walk again after a stroke. You see a person go slowly by the doorway pushing his own rolling IV tower, say, drip drip drip, being followed by a wheelchair and an attendant who is ready to scoop him up if he begins to fall. And at his side is another attendant who might have a hand on the gait belt the entire time, ready to hold hard and lift and steady because there may come a time when even standing for a minute is too much for a person. Someone at the ready, someone who's got your back. It's a little genius of a system that makes a hard time safer.