Design Planning

Planning the design of the assisted bathroom to permit circulation space and increased movability forms the basis of an assisted bathroom. Doing so lets both users and caregivers conveniently and carefully move around the bathroom without facing potential risks and dangers.

An initial obstacle to overcome, and a great example of why design planning is necessary, is a result of the major part of the population believing their current bathroom is of small stature. This initial point is given to concentrate entirely on space. In an ideal world, the suggested room size for building an accessible, assisted bathroom is 2.4 x 2.5m. There are design strategies and tips you can adopt to increase circulation space.

1. Use the concept of a disabled wet room, or a mobility level access shower – not only is this a great mobility bathroom solution but it also utilizes the whole room as a result of no lips or steps meaning wheel-in, walk-in or zimmer-in access is probable.
2. Installation of a folding shower seat does not occupy space.
3. Use of bi-folding half-height doors. When not in use, they can be folded away and they also procure a wide opening catering for wheelchair access. Similarly, and great for an assisted bathroom design, half-height doors let for a carer to leave over and help with showering and bathing without themselves getting wet.
4. It is highly recommended to accompany it with a shower curtain instead of a fixed patrician for the same reasons as above.
5. Correspondingly rise and fall grab bars, instead of fixed fittings, are preferred with the aim of providing extra movability space when needed.
6. Purpose-built shelves and niches for storage are a fashionable design alternative to traditional bathroom cupboards and are wonderful for small rooms where enough floor space isn’t a choice.

Being selective with your options, and as a result of investigating all your choices, proves essential space can be made where the room dimensions don’t meet the ideal requirements.

Slip-resistant flooring

Bathrooms can be dangerous for slips, trips, and falls when there’s only one occupant at a time due to them being normally wet environments. Add two people and potentially a walking aid and/or wheelchair present the hazard of an accident happening only intensifies.

For the purpose of security and perfect peace of mind the installation of safety flooring, or slip-resistant vinyl, is supreme in the design of an assisted bathroom, keeping both the user and carer safe from any potential risk.

Specialist sanitary ware

Built to assist an end user stay independent, wash and dry toilets for the disabled simplify a more dignified ablution. Although not particularly for an assisted bathroom, conversely, washing and drying toilets permit a user to keep on using with dignity and freedom.

Positioning of controls

Eventually, a significant design element is the installation of certain controls, for both ease of access and use for the end user and caregiver.

A choice would be to place the shower controls outside the shower area, where assisted showering is needed, to let the caregiver turn the shower on and off, as well as regulate the temperature and flow before the user gets in. It may also be valuable to select an attended hose for increased reach and pliability.

4 tips for designing a disabled bathroom

If you are scheduling to re-do your bathroom, you might want to add some attributes to make it more accessible to everyone who might visit. Perhaps you personally require more accessible traits, or maybe you have a family member who does, and they can’t presently come to see you because they can’t use your bathroom. It could be that you want to sell your home and you want to make it more attractive to as wide an audience as possible. No matter what the reason, installing a disabled bathroom is an amazing idea.

The entry

The first thing you’ll possibly consider when it comes to building an accessible bathroom is the disabled bathroom equipment you’ll require, but there is a very essential extra consideration that is very simple to forget about, so we’ve put it as the first item on this list to make sure you consider it: the entry.

Sink area

Once the entry has been selected, you’ll know how much space you have to work with elsewhere, and you’ll know the best place to put the sink. In order to make your sink accessible, there should be nothing beneath it (no cabinet, for example) so that a wheelchair can go straightly up to it.

Space around the toilet

The toilet is a vital piece of disabled bathroom equipment. If you have a disabled family member, they’ll possibly need to utilize the toilet at some point while they are visiting, even if they don’t have to use a shower, for example. Therefore, you need to think cautiously about where the toilet will go and particularly about how much space there is around the toilet.

Shower entry

The last part of assisted bathroom equipment which might be necessary is the shower. Showers are easier and safer to use than baths, but you’ll still require to take a lot into consideration. The width of entry to the shower and the entry to the bathroom itself should be equal (915 mm ideally).