[AD] Making A Bathroom Safe For The Elderly

As you start to enter old age one thing you are guaranteed to have is reduced mobility and this will affect the majority of elderly people. It could be they are suffering from arthritis or the joints of the legs become stiff. This is why it’s important to convert the bathroom for an elderly person into an easier place for them to use. For example with a walk in shower. This is the time when you should call in the experts such as Mobilityplus + to design a bathroom that fits all of needs of your elderly relative.

My mum is in her twilight years and like many homes that were built over 50 years ago, it has a very standard bathroom with a bath, toilet and sink. She is now at that age where getting in and out of a bath has become an impossible task for her. As such it’s time to convert and modernise her bathroom so she can keep her independence when using the bathroom.

Here are a few changes we will be making to make her bathroom an easy place to use and eliminate any possibility of accidents such as falling while trying to get into or out of the bath.

1. Walk In Shower

This is an absolute must have for my mum. She likes to shower everyday and in the current form of her bathroom which has a shower over the bath, it’s become all but impossible. This means the old bath will be removed and replaced with a large walk-in shower. This will help her to shower everyday and take away the daily struggle of climbing over the bath to have a shower.

2. Handrails

My mum uses a walking stick on a permanent basis and using this in the bathroom is difficult. This is why I will be having handrails fitted in her bathroom and in the walk in shower so that should she slip or feel like she is slipping there is handrail she can grab to steady herself.

3. Seat Inside The Walk In Shower

My mum as she has got older has found it difficult to stand for long periods of time so fitting a seat to the walk in shower is a must. This means she’ll be able to wash herself while sitting down which will make her feel safe and that she is not going to fall over whilst showering.

4. Flooring

The flooring in the main part of the bathroom will have to have an anti-slip surface, even when wet and also a flooring surface that drys quickly making it safe for her to walk on.

Making a bathroom a safe environment for my mum will continue to give her independence and it will be very good for mental well being so that she can still look after herself in what is a very private part of her life. I am really looking forward to seeing the conversion take place and how it will improve my mums life for the better.

Do you have elderly relatives? Have you converted their bathroom? I would love to hear your experiences in the comments below.

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