How A Walk-In Tub Makes Your Bathroom More Senior-Friendly
If you're approaching your retirement years, you may be thinking of making changes to your home so it will be more senior-friendly as you age. Being able to function around your home could mean the difference between staying in your home and moving to an assisted living facility once you're elderly. Some things you can look into are installing a stair lift, installing an elevated toilet, removing trip hazards such as thresholds in doorways, and installing a walk-in shower and walk-in tub. A walk-in tub is of particular importance since bathing is something you will need to do daily. Here's why one of these could be a big help to you once you're in your golden years.
Traditional Bathtubs Pose Multiple Dangers
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The act of stepping into the bathtub could become very dangerous. You might not step high enough, catch your toes, and then fall into the tub. Falling on hard porcelain can cause you to break a hip or shoulder. Even if you clear the tub, you might slip on the slick surface and loose your balance.
A hard fall in the tub could cause a head injury or other serious bodily harm. Even if you can get in the tub and sit down safely, getting out could be a problem when you have strength and mobility issues. Installing grab bars is one solution, but if a bar gives way, then you could have a bad fall. With all of these problems, you might be tempted to get rid of your bathtub and install a walk-in shower. While showers are nice for quick cleanups, nothing beats relaxing in a hot tub. That's where a walk-in tub comes in handy.
Walk-In Tubs Offer Safety And Therapeutic
Individuals with mobility issues such as back problems or arthritis, may not be able to get in and out of showers and baths with ease, in this situation, individuals should be supported and assisted when required, using aids such as grab bars and slip proof mats.
According to the CDC, 20 percent of falls cause a serious head injury. Millions of people have neck injuries from serious falls, and 2.5 million senior citizens seek treatment in emergency rooms after a fall.
On average acute care hospital facilities can experience 6 falls/1000 admissions (0.6%) to facilities. These occurrences are resulting in compromising the patient’s recovery timelines. Discharges are being delayed and coupled with added costs of the hospital stay; most hospitals have assigned this as an opportunity for improvement. All of these ramifications resulting from a patient fall. In this paper we will discuss inpatient hospital falls, what exposes a patient has to experiencing a fall while admitted, what hospital systems are doing to reduce the risk of falls and which preventative methods on reducing falls seems to work well. The incident may not be eliminated from occurring, however with prevention, occurrences can be reduced.
A patient fall can be defined as an event that results in the patient coming to rest on the ground or other surface lower than the body. Falls not only have physical consequences, but also have financial and emotional consequences. Falls unfortunately lengthen their hospital stay resulting in an average increase of 6.3 days. Patient who experience a fall may also experience negative psychological affects and social consequences. The loss of self-confidence in ambulating safely may result in self-imposed functional limitations which can contribute to loss of independence, decreased quality of life, and even death. Inpatient falls are associated with a higher rate of discharges to extended care facilities, and extreme fear of falling has resulted in self-isolation and wheel-chair dependency.
A fall can change your day, your week, and maybe even your life. These injuries can often happen anywhere and to anyone, which can be frightening in their suddenness, and cause severe pain and injury. Falls are the most common variety of accidental injuries. However, a fall is not a type of injury, it is a cause.
Many high school students, as well as high school graduates, make the decision to become college students in the interest of furthering their education; however, there are some who go to explore opportunities the future might bring. Consider the minorities choice as a toes dip in the pool. Those exploring their future at college are committed to the work but aren't dedicating themselves to the particular education they are receiving
Prevent falls. Falling can be especially dangerous for older adults. Bones are not as strong as they once were and if an older person is alone and can’t call for help, may have to wait a long time until someone can help them. Follow these “mini tips” to help you stay on your feet.
You have to be prepared to deal with airport security and airline personnel when traveling with your shower chair or commode. There will be obstacles that you will have to deal with, but first, you should know what your rights are. A Google search for "airline and wheelchair" will return some useful information, but we will condense it here. Your portable shower chair/commode is considered a "fragile medical device" and you will need to "gate-check" it. You should not be charged for it as extra baggage. Gate-checking your wheelchair means that you will need to go through security with your commode/shower chair, onto to the gate and finally on the jet-way. On the plane will be stored in a
Many adults in their 50s, 60s, and better are interested in moving into a 55 plus community. They've become quite popular, and for good reason: the low-maintenance lifestyle provides seniors with the ability to (lets seniors) have an active, exciting retirement without having to worry about the maintenance of a property and the distance of city-living entertainment. But that's not all there is to it. There are several benefits to living in a retirement community.
3). Causes of falls at home are diverse. For example, vitamin deficiencies, gait disturbances, medication interactions due to polypharmacy, medications side effects, poor vision, and hazardous furniture ("Important Facts about Falls"). Individualized actions to reduce these causes should follow; instruct patients and caregivers is the top strategy to prevent falls at the home setting. For instance, never wear slippery shoes, use nightlights to increase visibility, avoid clutter furniture, and remove carpets and rugs from bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and
As for risk factors, there is a huge amount of risk factors in aged care facilities. They are categorised 3 groups, which are environmental factors, physical factors and personal factors (Johnson & Chang 2014, p. 229). The most influential factors are physical ones because nearly a half of the residents have osteoporosis, from 50 to 70% of them have dementia, more than a half of them experience delirium and nearly 80% of them need assistance with toileting (Johnson & Chang 2014, p. 229). On this graph, a systematic review shows major risk factors of falls in those facilities and their evidence-based interventions. In order to prevent falls, reviewing their medication, avoiding use of restrains if the residents are agitated, regularly checking
Our results show that doing a belly flop would cause the most harm to a person who is diving into a pool of water. This is based off of the greater speed that a person belly flops into the water (8.3 m/s2), which is more than both head first diving (7.73 m/s2) and rotating into the water (7.34 m/s2). Also, the amount of force that the water exerts on the body while doing a belly flop (1079 N) is greater than the amount of force the water exerts on the body while head first diving (1004.95 N) and rotating into the water (954.2 N). It takes approximately 3,300 N to crack bones, such as a rib and approximately 4,000 n to fracture a femur (Choi,C). This means that the excessive amounts of force have the power to breaks bones and the greater the
From the time we are able to walk we are subject to falling, it is actually a part of learning to walk. Falling may occur because we lose our balance or stumble on something on the ground. At a young age a fall can result in a scraped knee or elbow, serious injury may occur under certain circumstances but they are not likely. As we age our bodies may become frail and the consequences for falling become greater. Falling poses one of the greatest risks for elders, and it is one of the leading causes for fractures in some cases, a fall can even result in death. Elders who fall are more likely to die within the next year and it is estimated that one out of three adults will fall every year. Not only does falling present a physical risk for elders,
Injuries related to ladders account for thousands of emergency room trips each year, so make sure you aren’t taking unnecessary risks when you use ladders. Take care with the following tips from A Mother’s Touch Movers below:
There are many factors that can contribute to the patient being at risk for falls. The patient could have impaired cognition, unsteady gait, mobility problems, and also a history of falls (Huey-Ming Tzeng and Chang- Yi Yin 2015). The patient could have accidentally fallen, just slightly tripped over their own feet. Sometimes a patient can have what is known as a physiological fall (ex. Seizures or passed out (Huey-Ming Tzeng and Chang- Yi Yin 2015). The patient may have a physical factor such as surgery, sedative medications, or a mental status change that has caused them to fall (Huey-Ming Tzeng and Chang- Yi Yin 2015).