How to make your bathroom safer for yourself
It’s no secret that the risk of falling increases the older you get. According to the Australian and New Zealand Falls Prevention Society (ANZFPS), around 30 per cent of adults over 65 will experience at least one fall per year.
Often these falls are minor and result in little more than a scuffed knee, sore arm or bruised ego – particularly if it’s in front of someone! However, a fall in the bathroom can be especially dangerous.
In fact, the ANZFPS reports that falls account for 40 per cent of injury related deaths. You may fall and then develop pneumonia or DVT, which could potentially kill you. And generally, it’ll also take you longer to heal from a fall compared to a younger person as you no longer have the same amount of muscle mass.
Despite this, over 60 per cent of older Australians would strongly prefer to “age in place” by staying in their own homes, according to a report by the government Productivity Commission.
Jane Floyd, from Australian community care group Better Care, says this poses challenges for our society – particularly as the life expectancy for women is now 85 years for women and 81 years for men.
“Asking for ‘help’ is not an easy subject to discuss with this stoic generation of elder folk who’d rather give than receive,” she says. “They are a proud generation, who are used to ‘making do’. Its only when a crisis happens, like a serious fall, is ‘help’ accepted. Nevertheless, if we want to avoid the crisis, and keep them living safe and comfortably in their own home, adjustments will need to be made.”
In particular, the bathroom is one of the most dangerous rooms in the home. Apart from all the slippery surfaces to deal with, bathrooms can also pose challenges as your bones age. Hard to turn on and off taps can be a nightmare if you have arthritic wrists and low seated toilets will place strain on your back and knees and increase wear.
Australian bathwares supplier Caroma’s new Piperita bathwares range is specifically designed with the needs of older Australians in mind. Caroma’s innovation director Dr Steve Cummings says attending to the health needs of Australia’s ageing population is set to be one of the biggest challenges our health system faces. “The fact of life is, the older we get, the more our risk of injury and chronic disease goes up so the more important it is to install a bathroom that deals with those challenges as we age.”
Dr Cummings says one of the biggest challenges for the research team was designing a bathroom suite and products which looked stylish and wouldn’t affect a home’s re-sale value. “People often fear that renovating with products like grab rails will make a bathroom look ‘too institutionalised’. However, it’s valuable to know that bathroom innovation has advanced in recent times and now bathrooms with additional supports can look both stylish and modern.”
If you’re looking to make your bathroom last the distance, and need to upgrade for your health needs, these tips will make life a lot easier:
Prevent falls
- Install grab rails – Rails can literally be a lifesaver and can give you increased confidence in the shower. Sometimes if people do fall, just trying to get up on their own can exacerbate an injury. So having a grab rail to stop a fall, or help if you need it, is very valuable.
- Use a non-slip mat – A mat attached to a floor with adhesive strips will provide better stable footing when getting in and out of a bath or shower.
- Sit on a shower chair – If you’re feeling increasingly unstable in the shower, then a chair is great peace of mind. It’s a good resting place for those who have difficulty standing for long periods of time, particularly when combined with a hand-held shower head.
Reduce joint strain on your lower body
- Choose an easy-height toilet – Often people who’ve had knee operations and sporting injuries have difficulty moving on and off the toilet. A toilet with a raised seat reduces the strain on your knee, hips and lower back and reduces the risk of pain in later life.
- Fit grab bars – Installing grab bars on either on arms of a toilet, or along a wall, will allow your arms to help lever you off the seat.
- Position toiletries within reach – Make sure things like toilet paper rolls are within easy reach if you run out so you don’t have to twist around to find them whilst on the toilet. You can wall-mount small shelves close to the toilet.
Avoid wrist pain
- Consider lever tapware – Being able to easily turn a tap on and off is very important as we age, particularly if you have arthritis in your wrists. Not only do you need taps that are easy to maneuver, you also need ones with a good grip so your hands won’t slip. If you have trouble turning taps on and off anyway, and your hands slip, it can cause you a lot of pain.
Lower the spread of germs
- Choose easy to clean products – Reducing bacterial numbers is very important not only for hygiene in the bathroom but also the entire house. Tests conducted by the University of Arizona revealed that 62 percent of bathroom floors they monitored were contaminated with potentially dangerous bacteria, as well as 19 percent of toilet bowls. Much of the bacteria lurks under the rim of the toilet bowl so choosing a toilet with a powerful flush and is rimless is a wise choice.
- Keep all surfaces in good condition – Make sure you clean all tiles and surfaces regularly. For this, grab rails in showers can be handy to stabilize you as you wipe hard to reach areas.