Bathroom supplies can be decorative as well as practical. Although the bathroom’s hard, slick surfaces and protruding metal fixtures make it dangerous, homeowners often overlook physical safety and focus on physical cleanliness and comfort when choosing bathroom supplies.Your choice of supplies can increase bathroom hazards or protect you.Older adults with functional limitations often struggle as they use of their bathtub, shower, and toilet. Approximately 2/3 of all bathroom injuries in older adults occur while showering and bathing, and approximately ¼ of all injuries occur while using the toilet. People with disabilities are especially vulnerable. These injuries are frequently associated with impairments of balance, reach, grasp and thermal sensitivity. Injuries to caretakers are a consequence of the high rate of injury in the residential bathroom. The absence of adequate bathroom supplies places both people with disabilities and caretakers at risk for falling. Motor lifts, for example, can reduce the risk of injury to caretakers and to the people whom they struggle to lift.

The bathtub follows the swimming pool as the site of drowning in the home, and the National Safety Council reports that approximately 350 Americans die in the bathtub each year. Deaths in people over the age of 60 usually follow bathtub falls. Approximately 80% of accidental bathroom injuries are the result of falls, with older adults at highest risk. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that people who are over the age of 65 are 150% more likely than younger people to be admitted to a hospital Emergency Department after a fall.

As Senior Citizens continue to age, the National Center for Health Statistics documents an increase in their need for assistance with bathroom activities. Bathroom modifications can enhance security in the bathroom, using supplies that are inexpensive and easy to install. For example, good lighting reduces the risk of falling over unseen objects. Anchored grab bars adjacent to an elevated toilet seat with arms can make a toilet safer for people with physical disabilities, frailty and problems with balance. Shower seats with backs, shower hoses, bath mittens and brushes with long handles can increase independence in bathing. Transfer benches with backs, bath mats, and non-slip flooring will reduce the risk of injury while entering or leaving the bathtub/shower. In case of emergency, monitored telephones and/or intercoms can be placed within reach.h.

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