At some time, the aged and elderly today where vibrant members of the society, who fought and won wars for the country, contributed to the vibrancy of the economy and served in civil service. Certainly, everyone, will one day grow old and it is important that we join in the advocacy to give proper care and love to them as they at some point have given us too when we also needed much care as children. The decision to take inclusion in the society even more serious have been largely commendable and it is even our hope that more people, especially charity and non-profit organization take the forward step to help the elderly people. The support of our senior class citizens continues to be a collective duty of the society. So many homes for aged have been set up today. Yet in the setup of these houses, all checkboxes must be ticked to ensure that they live comfortably and enjoy the rest of their time on earth.
Some of the areas that continue to give a source of concern especially for the aged are the toilets. It is recorded that up to one elderly in every three experience a fall and most of the time, that fall occur in the toilet. This is why it is very important that bathrooms, especially in homes for the aged, are very senior friendly. This is why we put together a list of what every senior friendly toilet room must have:
Rails or Grab Bars: Rails are first on our list because, just in case you are doing remodeling, this is quite easy to set up. Setting up rails around the toilet seat and close to the mirror and shower or tub, makes it very easy for the aged to stand up or seat as the case may be. The aim is to try to make them as independent as possible and even make it easier for an aid to help while preventing incidents. They can easily move around the toilet, with these installed in the right places. There are different types of rails available, including some that can be detached or folded for different use options or more space.
Non-slippery Foot Mats on baths and sitting floor areas: While you must ensure that your floor is completely none slippery, you can add non-slippery floor mats in the bath and by the bathtub, due to accidental presence of water close to that area to avoid any kind of slips.
Comfortable Toilet Heights: In providing very senior friendly toilet in homes for the aged. You should ensure the toilet is at a senior-friendly comfortable height of at least about 16-17 inches.
No thorough-fare barrier to shower The shower should be built in a way that there is no stump or ledge on the floor because of the door. This way you can allow for wheelchairs and avoid any kind of fall or incident. The bathroom is also designed in a way that is slanted such that the water goes straight into the drain. Such a bathroom should also have a comfortable chair that can be used in the shower.
Available shower heads: Shower heads are also very important so they don’t have to stand under the shower or bend as the case may be They can simply drag the shower head wherever they want the shower to be directed to.
Tankless water heater: Elders are sensitive and have a weaker immune system that’s why they can’t stand having cold showers. Having tankless water can help them have warm baths especially during winter. Warm baths according to studies can help with the blood circulation thus making them healthier.
Maintenance is also very important in homes for the aged. There should always be people in charge that know how to fix things in the toilet room for the convenience of the elders. The people in charge for maintenance must be knowledgable on how to fix problems like how to replace a toilet shut off valve, fix a loose faucet, broken shower head, etc. Together with maintenance, cleanliness is also very important that’s why there should be people also in charge of the cleanliness of homes for the aged’s toilet rooms.
Charity homes that have dedicated themselves in ensuring that our old ones are kept happy and comfortable continue to help bring peace and foster happiness among families, knowing that our senior citizen/elderly are a very integral part of our society.