The bathroom can be a hazardous place for anyone but that is especially true for people who have mobility issues, including seniors who are perhaps not as steady on their feet as they used to be. There are however some fairly simple adjustments that can be made to any space that can help make the bathroom safer for people with limited mobility to use which can allow them a little more dignity while providing their loved ones with a little extra piece of mind at the same time.
Here are just a few very easy to implement tweaks that can be easily achieved with the help of a good bathroom remodeling specialist and a fairly minimal investment to help make your bathroom safer, more efficient and even better looking.
Walk In Tubs
A great many of the falls that occur in the bathroom every year happen when people are getting in and out of the bathtub. While this kind of fall can seriously injure anyone it can be life threatening for an older person or someone with limited mobility.
A walk in bath tub removes a lot of the hazards of bathing for people with limited mobility. Rather than having to clamber into a high sided bath a walk in tub has a simple, easy to use opening, a small door really, that means that getting into the bath is as easy as walking anywhere else in the room. Once the tub is closed though it is still completely watertight.
Walk in bathtubs can be found in an increasing number of different styles – and very attractive they are too – and there are some also feature built in mobility aids like a powered bath seat that means that for someone with limited mobility getting in and out of the bath is even easier. Such tubs can usually be installed in a less than a day and when it comes to making the bathroom safer it’s a huge step.
Grab Bars
Installing grab bars in the bath, the shower and around the toilet and washbasin areas is one of the simplest, most affordable and yet still very effective things that you can do to help make a bathroom safer for everyone, not just for people with less mobility.
Installing grab bars to make your bathroom safer does not have to mean that you lose the aesthetic appeal of the space for the sake of convenience though. There are plenty of very attractive grab bar options available that will actually compliment your decor rather than detract from it.
Non Slip Tiles
A wet bathroom floor is a dangerous floor and simply scattering rugs around to provide traction is not a good solution, as these can slip and slide all too easily causing even more of a problem. Re-tiling a bathroom floor with specialist non slip tile flooring can make a bathroom safer for everyone, not just people with limited mobility, and that can only be a good thing can’t it?
Angelica Pinto is an artist, interior design lover and Realtor serving the Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph, Ontario communities.