How Bathroom Safety Keeps Seniors Independent By Sean Rutger At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

For senior citizens, safe bathroom practices can mean the difference between living at home and living in a long-term care facility. Seniors that live alone will often have loved ones that worry about their condition, and wonder whether it is still safe to leave them to care for themselves. Almost everyone wants to remain independent for as long as possible. Furthermore, most people would feel embarrassment or shame if they needed help bathing.

Unless a person's mental faculties have become a threat to their safety, their physical capabilities should not. This is because there are a number of valid solutions to the problem of how to handle safety in the bathroom, even if you're a senior with limited mobility. There are several other areas of the common home that are prone to accidents, but the bathroom is the second only to stairways when it comes to potential for dangerous accidents.

It happens that bathing oneself safely is one of the most challenging daily tasks for the elderly and the disabled. Most people with arthritis or other conditions that limit their mobility should first reduce the risk of an accident in the bathroom by taking baths instead of showers. This approach drastically reduces the risk of a fall-related accident, but it presents other challenges as well. Taking a bath instead of a shower means the person must lower their body all the way down to ground level to bathe, and then lift their body back up to a standing position once they are finished. This process can be strenuous and even exhausting for a senior, particularly if they are affected by arthritis. They must then step over the side of the tub, which for most people is about knee-height. For a senior that has difficulty climbing a flight of stairs, stepping over a bathtub wall that is about two feet high is very challenging.

There are many ways to accommodate seniors with restricted mobility who wish to bath privately and independently. Bath seats and bath lifts with transfer benches go a long way toward providing safety, but the best option for safety is to install in a walk-in bathtub. Walk-in bathtubs work quite simply: They feature a door that can be opened so the person can simply walk in. The clearance from the ground is generally no more than two inches. Some walk-in tubs are built to replace an ordinary tub, but then the problem of having to lower and raise the body to ground level remains.

The best kind of walk-in tub to have is one of the taller, self-contained models because they feature a bench seat and a grab bar. This way, the user can easily get in, sit down (at a normal height for sitting), and take a complete bath. Once they are finished, it is much easier to stand from a sitting position rather than a laying position, and it's very easy to exit the tub safely by opening the door.

This solution will ease the minds of a senior's loved ones, and they will not have to worry about a beloved family member falling in the shower and not getting help. The senior has privacy and independence, and the family has peace of mind about bathroom safety.

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