Provides Independence, Mobility, and Self-Confidence
How would you truly feel if you wanted to use a restroom but couldn’t get in the door? This is the trouble wheelchair patients end up in, more often than not. Rent an apartment. The bathroom will likely be too small, and the door too narrow for access. Buy a house. Even then, the washroom will probably need to be made over and adapted for wheelchair use.
Bathrooms aren’t made with the disabled in mind. Stop and contemplate what you might need in a wheelchair-accessible bathroom if you or even a relative should become wheelchair-bound, the things that would give you independence, mobility, and the independence to care for your needs.
To start with, you are going to need space to maneuver. Even though wheelchairs are being created using a smaller turning radius’ all the time, they still require space to move. Get a few measurements. You will need at least 30” x 48” of space for one wheelchair. Some of this room can be underneath the sink, provided there’s lots of clearance for the chair’s footrest.
There should be a space with at least a 60” radius for comfortable turns. Numerous bathrooms don’t have this kind of area, so before you can redesign the area to make it wheelchair accessible, you will need to find more room somewhere. You may be able to take out a wardrobe in the bathroom or even a neighboring room, or you might take a portion of another room and add it to the bath.
Fixtures in a handicapped washroom must be carefully planned to meet the requirements of space and function. Toilet seats should be 17” to 19” from the floor and have grab bars on both sides when possible. Even though sinks need to be positioned lower than in a normal bathroom, there still needs to be at least 29” of clearance between the lip of the sink and the floor so that the disabled individual can get nearby the sink in a wheelchair.
Wheelchair-accessible showers ought to be large enough for the person to go in effortlessly and turn around as required. Hardware should be at a level that allows the individual to utilize it without help.
It’s simple to feel low self-esteem whenever a person cannot take care of their individual needs. By adapting a bathroom for wheelchair patients, you’ll give them the self-confidence and self-sufficiency they need by permitting them to look after themselves.
Wheelchair Accessible Shower
After a long, tiring day, nothing feels better than a hot shower. However, if you’re one of the thousands of individuals confined to a wheelchair, bath time can be nothing but a time of stress and frustration. These people obviously can’t stand up and walk into a standard shower; therefore, to enjoy the same independence and release of stress as the rest of us do, they need special wheelchair-accessible showers. Since most homes don’t have bathrooms like this, the rooms need to be adapted so that the disabled can have the mobility and freedom needed to take care of their own needs.
Usually, the biggest difficulty in building a wheelchair-accessible roll-in shower is the lack of space. Most bathrooms aren’t overly large, and the only space usually available for a special shower is the area where the tub is currently located. Although a wheelchair will fit into this amount of space, it may be difficult or even impossible for the person to maneuver in a small area. If there are options for opening up the room even further, such as removing a linen closet, this will help. A small roll-in shower will mean that a lot of water will spill over onto the floor, too.
Most showers have a lip that keeps the water from running out on the floor; however, a roll-in shower can’t have one. This will mean that the bathtub drain must be lowered for better run-off. You will have to remove the flooring and subflooring under the tub to add a rubber shower pan and the floor of the new shower and keep them flush with the rest of the bathroom floor. With a lot of work, this task can be accomplished so that there is a seamless transition from floor to shower, meaning that someone in a wheelchair can take a shower without assistance.
Just as with standard bathtubs and shower enclosures, you can find roll-in showers prefabricated from fiberglass and acrylic. Some of these are meant to fit exactly where your tub is with only minimal drain adjustment. Once again, this space will be tight for a wheelchair. If you have room in your bath, you can find pre-made showers in different sizes, which will be more user-friendly.
Everyone, including people with handicaps, wants the freedom and independence to care for their basic needs. Many feel degraded and lack self-esteem because they depend on others for even the most personal care. Therefore, anything you can do to help them live unassisted will raise their self-confidence level and help them to live fuller lives