Bathrooms can be a dangerous place, especially for seniors with limited mobility. About 90% of adult falls happen in the bathroom, and most of them result in broken bones or concussions. Bathroom safety features for your home are paramount, especially if you’re a senior homeowner.
Fortunately for you, there are dozens of affordable ways to improve bathroom safety, ranging from simple cleaning habits to more elaborate assistive features.
Here are four quick and easy ways you can improve bathroom safety, especially if you’re an elderly homeowner.
Get Rid of Clutter
Always make sure that your bathroom – especially the floor – is as clean and dry as possible. Obstructions and water, particularly on the floor, dramatically increase the risk of a fall.
The best part of this tip is that it costs nothing! Just a little extra caution can go a long way in improving the overall function and safety of your bathroom.
Invest In Good Lighting
If you can’t see the obstacles in your bathroom, there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to trip over them. Good lighting dramatically reduces the risk of falling by illuminating potential hazards on the bathroom floor, walls, and ledges.
Good light can also reflect off of water that may otherwise be invisible on the floor. Water is extremely dangerous and slippery even if you can see it; much more so if you can’t
Installing good lighting doesn’t mean you have to invest in something fancy or expensive. You can start improving your bathroom lighting right away by investing in brighter bulbs or adding other lighting apparatuses like lamps.
Install Assistive Features
Non-slip mats and grab bars are two great assistive products to reduce bathroom-related risks.
Even if you clean diligently, there is always a chance for water to get on your bathroom floor. A quality non-slip mat will stick to the floor to prevent sliding and tripping. Mats are also generally less slippery when wet, so even if you splash water on them your risk of falling is reduced.
Wall-mounted grab bars are among the most common assistive products for seniors, which is no surprise. In the event of a fall, the worst thing you can do is grab a towel bar, picture frame, or any other loosely-fitted object on the wall. Loosely mounted features can detach from the wall and hit you in the head or face as you fall.
Wall-mounted grab bars are a great investment not only to reduce the risks of falls, but to remove the added risk of grabbing a loose object if you do fall.
Install a Walk-in Tub and Shower
If you want to make sure that your bathroom is 100% safe, install a walk-in tub and safety shower designed for the elderly.
Walk-in tubs, by default, are outfitted with assistive features like non-slip surfaces and grab bars; but they also have extremely high customization potential. Walk-in tubs can be outfitted with push-button controls, self-cleaning features, self-regulating temperature, hydrotherapy and even aromatherapy features.
There’s no getting around the fact that a tub is a big investment, but it’s worth it; and with the right installer it can be shockingly affordable. Talk to the experts at Miami Valley Premier Walk-in Tubs to see just how affordable a quality walk-in tub can be.
