Disability access baths?

[deano]

I'm in discussions with an elderly customer who has had major surgery to her foot and is likely to require the same procedure to her other foot, sometime in the future. She has trouble getting in and out of her bath and has asked me to consider ways to remodel her bathroom to make things easier for her.

Obviously, one of the options is the install a bath with a door and which has been specifically designed for people with such needs. Another suggestion is to install a motorised seat that slides over the bath and then lowers into the water etc.

Does anyone here have any experience with these systems and could possibly recommend a product (and/or manufacturer) that has a good reputation? I'd also like to show her some options that have a bit of style and don't look as ugly as most of those I have seen so far. Unfortunately, this type of product will completely change the look of her bathroom and I want to keep the "medical" look down to an absolute minimum!

Any advice would be very welcome. Thanks a bunch.

d.

[John]

What about a shower instead? Wet room type floor and a shower seat?

[sm_jamieson]

The simplest system I have seen is an airbag that lifts you in and out of the bath. No pemanent fixtures and lightweight and portable. Such a device might be sufficient. You could also include a hand rail disguised as a towel rail.

One thing about the bath with a door I have always wondered. What happens if you open the door when full of water ? (rhetorical question !). Is there some safety device based on water pressure that locks the door ? True it would be hard to initially open when full, but possible.

Simon.

[mark]

Usually the best source of info is the OT at the local social services.In Scotland the Astley Ainslie hospital has a massive demonstration of kitchens and bathrooms for disabled people.The OT would know if anything like that exists in your area.

Mark.

[Chris J Dixon]

ISTR this being featured on some investigation a while back, and the drawback is that it relies on the user to keep the whole thing stable. Any wobbling and it can turn turtle.

Chris

[Mark Spice]

We had an airbag bath seat for our son (since outgrown it) and I wouldn't call it lightweight. It wasn't the actual mass that was the problem but the fact that is impossible to lift the thing 'properly' when putting in and out of the bath. This is less likely to be a problem if your customer will be the only user of the bath.

I am told that the seat systems (swivel bathers?) are good for people with no balance isssues. Currently we are using a mesh backed seat in the bath with an 'H' ceiling hoist (girder down each side of the room with a travelling beam across - the hoist can move across the central beam) but this does look a bit industrial/medical.

Manufacturers/suppliers include: Mangar International, Nottingham Rehab

Cheers

Mark

[Huge]

My mother, who is disabled, had her bath removed and a shower with a seat installed.

[Peter Parry]

Dolphin - avoid like the plague, don't go anywhere near, don't touch with disinfected bargepole.

Arjo - good but expensive.

You should have a local (ish) Independent Living Centre which should have an OT who can help plus a range of literature and some demo systems. Just don't go near the Dolphin brochures.

For many people a bath hoist or lift (power seat) is a good alternative to a walk in bath. If a shower is acceptable then, as has been suggested, making a wet room allows the bathroom to look "normal" while being suitable for everyone.

[Bruce]

An excellent suggestion.

That's what we did for my two aunts, who are in their 80s. It works very well indeed.

[Steve Firth]

All of these baths are a PITA for the disabled. The ones that lower the victim into the water require the indivdual to somehow transport themselves onto a belt suspended over the bath, and to lift their legs over the edge of the bath.

If they can do that, then they are not in need of the belt. Also the belt takes a long time to raise and lower the individual and struggling off the belt is just as difficult. At any stage it's possible to fall off the belt and if it is badly located, the person could get wedged head down behind the belt, and drown.

The baths with opening doors require someone to get into the bath, close the door, then fill the bath, bathe, empty the bath then open the door to exit. try this in your own bath and if you don't agree that it's the most disgusting and clammy experience possible then your need your bumps feeling.

So what makes sense?

A shower with level entry provided with a seat at the appropriate height. The actual height chosen depends on the individual and care must be taken to site all controls so that they can be reached from the seat. The shower head must be on a sliding rail so that it can be adjusted to the individual's requirements. Two heads installed at different heights may make sense if more than one person is to use the shower.

A walk in/walk out design is probably best but this requires a substantial bathrom redesign.

[Andy Dingley]

You have to get in and out of those when they're empty - which means you have to sit in them and wait whilst they fill. That itself can be a scalding hazard (thermostatic mixer can help) and is a real nuisance if you have an old, slow combi.

Retro-fit doors (rather than baths designed with them) have all that, and leaks too.

The airbags are dreadful things. Slow to lift too.

"Crane" lifts are very expensive, although eBay helps. Easy to fit though, easily removable too and don't limit space in the bath.

One of the best I've seen was a battery-powered scissor-jack mechanism with an entirely internal seat. Side-flaps on the seat hinged down over the bath sides automatically. This worked great, but it did use a lot of length in the bathtub and as it was already a small bathroom with a short tub, it just didn't leave room for the bather!

I'm now waiting for details on a "roller blind" that works sideways. It's a cloth band that's attached to one side (or wall) of the tub and is controlled by a floor-mounted roller. Pulling it taut lifts the bather. This has relatively few parts and doesn't limit use of a short tub.

Your local OT (Occupational Therapy) people should have a depot in a town within reach (Chorley for Lancashire) and many different sorts of device available for demo or loan. Loans are definitely worth a try, as you often find out some issue you'd never have realised otherwise.

[Andy Dingley]

That's because you're young enough not to need it.

Ask an ~80 year old to give up baths in favour of showers and a significant fraction of them will refuse, on the grounds that showers are some new-fangled device that they don't hold with...

[Owain]

Premier Bathrooms likewise, my mother would say.

The Dolphin brochures are fine if you just want to point at them and say "I like those tiles"

Owain

[Owain]

I would echo the suggestion of speaking to Social Work Occupational Therapist, a good source of impartial advice - and there may be some free or assisted-cost schemes available.

I dislike the bath-with-door type. Apart from having to sit in them while they empty/fill the door locks can fail - my mother got locked inside her Premier Bathrooms one.

It may be that a simple bath seat, with a shower handspray, is sufficient at least as a temporary measure until a more long term scheme can be decided upon.

Owain

[Steve Firth]

OOh you're so wrong.

Ask an 80 year old in my second home town about taking a bath and they'll respond "why would anyone want to sit in dirty water?"

[Huge]

Well, my 90 y/o MIL and 77 y/o mother have both given up baths in favour of showers.

[Rod]

Is there any mileage in a showertub:

[John]

Easy to trip getting out. Wet room and seat far better.

[deano]

I should have mentioned in my OP that a "wet floor" shower area was my first recommendation to the client, there is a really nice system for this available from Level Best (part of AKW Medicare), all the components from this company are also reasonably priced. My customer was instantly agreeable to this, but then I began to have second thoughts as it would mean losing her bath completely and we all know how women like their baths, even if they find it difficult to get in and out... totally removing the only bath in the house felt a bit harsh. Since then, during a chat with her, about 'ugly bath' Vs 'no bath at all', she mentioned that there might be hot, cold & waste services present below the floorboards in the walk-in wardrobe of her bedroom, put there, some 20 years ago by a builder during previous internal renovations, on the basis that an en-suite might be installed at a future date. If this proves to be the case, then this space would be ideal for housing the "ugly" bath... it's certainly big enough.

After numerous meetings and discussions, the saga continues, but I'll endeavor to give her what she needs.