4 Ways To Make Showering Safer For Seniors

As is widely known, slips and falls count for a great deal of hospitalizations among seniors in the United States. Naturally, it’s important for homes where seniors live to be safeguarded in order to protect them from injuries as best as possible. This is especially important in the bathroom, which is notorious for its slippery surfaces. And when it comes to the shower, the potential of slipping and falling is that much greater.

Adding water to an already slippery surface and coupling that with the decreased sense of strength and balance most seniors experience and you have a recipe for disaster.

So how can showering be made safer for seniors? Here are four ways:

Place Non-Slip Mats in the Bathtub

To make the surface of a bathtub a lot less slippery, affix a rubber mat with suction bottoms to the shower floor. This will help the senior in the shower to be much more assured of his/her footing. A textured mat surface will make it even safer.

Install Grab Bars in the Shower

Grab bars are widely known for their ability to keep people steady on their feet. As their name informs, grab bars give bathroom users something to grab on to. They can be placed in the shower and by the toilet. That way, seniors can steady themselves when entering and exiting the shower and also have support when getting on or off the toilet.

“Install a grab bar at arm level on the side of the tub, perpendicular to the edge of the tub,” suggests OurEverydayLife.com, “You can also install a suction grab bar directly on the edge of the tub. This will give an elderly person something to grasp for stability when they’re getting in the tub because the process of lifting the leg over the tub edge can lead to dangerous falls.”

Make Use of a Transfer Bench

Another aptly-named accessibility device, a transfer bench is designed to have a bathtub user sit on it before entering the tub. He/she can then slide over on the bench to enter the bathtub. Once in the tub, a person can stand up to begin the showering process. Using a transfer bench eliminates the need to take that big step into and out of the bathtub. That big step can often lead to an injury-inducing tumble when the balance is lost.

“Transfer benches are benches that straddle the side of a bathtub,” explains Safewise.com, “The user sits down on the bench outside the tub, scoots over until they’re in the tub, and then stands up. This gives them something to grab onto and put their weight on while they get in so that they don’t have to worry about hiking a leg over the side and trying to maintain balance on a potentially slippery floor.”

Take the Shower out of the Bathroom

For many wheelchair-bound seniors, using a traditional shower isn’t possible. This is because bathrooms aren’t usually designed to accommodate wheelchairs. With Forward Day’s Shower Bay portable showers, seniors don’t need to worry about using the bathroom for showering purposes again! Shower Bay can be snapped together in any room of the house where there is a faucet nearby.

A user then rolls his/her shower wheelchair into Shower Bay in order to take a full shower with running water. No slips or falls at all! If you have any questions about our Shower Bay portable showers, please don’t hesitate to contact us to ask them. Give us a call at 1-877-593-4461 or email us at info@showerbay.com.