Some homes are more easily adapted for disabled use than others. As a homeowner you may want to live in your own home as long as possible, If that is the case then it may be worth planning how to make your home and especially your toilets more accessible for the disabled. As we get older we tend to need more support and help as we move around our living space. Here are some suggestions on what to do to prepare your home.

How to make toilets more accessible for the disabled

The main idea for an accessible bathroom should be to allow disabled people to have immediate entry to any amenities. These amenities can vary from normal toilets to special facilities in terms of dedicated bathrooms, size of facilities, equipment, flooring, lighting, etc. This is to eliminate the disabled barriers and limitations that could be present in normal toilets. But what are accessible toilets and disable toilets? A dedicated toilet for people with disabilities is defined as an open toilet or what we call an accessible toilet. 

To start with they will need to be able to get to the toilet, if you only have one that is upstairs you will need to look at getting a chair lift, you can get these from a versatile lift company. This will bring ease to the situation to any disabled persons who come to your space and need to go upstairs. 

The word ‘disabled’ applies to an individual who can face obstacles in everyday life because he has had a disability or a health condition. If obstacles and inequalities are not faced, the individual would not be disabled in that certain case. Nowadays there are lots of ideas to have a toilet adaptable to the needs of a person with a disability. See below some of them.

Grab bar or rails 

Grab bars are important safety measures that can be seen in many locations around the bathroom—especially areas such as the sink and the inside of the shower. Your relatives or loved ones may have the potential to function individually. Just in case you outbalance, you can already have a grab bar there. Grab bars are also important before accessing the bathtub or shower. Handrails are the fundamental elements of any open toilet. They offer vital support, security, and balance to anybody who uses the bathroom. In the absence of a handlebar, a person will have to cling onto the toilet seat, which is unsanitary and risky.

Floor space can make a bathroom more accessible for the disabled

Another major factor to an accessible bathroom is a lot of space to cater a walking stick, a walker, or a wheelchair. It is important to keep the bathroom as free of clumsiness as possible, particularly items, like girders, trash cans, and ornamented rugs. If a person’s belongings with a disability do not have space to store it may lead to accidents.

Accessible toilets must be comfortable enough to be rotated and worked in a wheelchair. At the very least, this could require a transparent and unobstructed wheelchair revolving circle of 1.5 meters in diameter. Preferably, there should be room on both sides of the comfort room (min. 90 cm) so that users of the wheelchair can switch from either side to the toilet seat. The basin should still have enough room beneath to roll right up to it in a wheelchair. Some disabled require the help of an attendant. Others require extra room space, Some need a platform to be lifted from a wheelchair to a toilet or a bed to be laid down to take out underwear. Some need to have a catheter or to adjust a continence pad.

 A higher toilet seat 

Higher toilet seats can make a toilet more accessible for the disabled. For people with limited mobility, especially the impaired ones, can sit down and get up more easily.

Raised seat

By elevating seats of the toilet, transitions to/from a wheelchair are often smoother. They can also be more secured since the height of seats is more comparable between the two. If anyone has trouble standing up from the toilet seat, an elevated seat will help with this manoeuvre, as explained when you click here.

Padded seat

Often padded – and thus convenient – upholstered toilet seats fit on top of a traditional toilet seat. Using this seat a person can stand until they are finished. The same with the bathroom basin, the toilet must also be accessible from the sitting position. This also means that the substitution of a longer frame or installation of a base under the toilet that will lift the device a few inches.

Bidet bowl

The toilet bidet provides excellent hygiene capabilities that benefit people with disabilities. Sprayer with the pulsating massage, semi-hot air dryer, and deodorant bowl machine. People with disabilities and some senior citizens with limited mobility can find it hard to clean themselves after using the toilet. A bidet bowl can be a perfect way to feel clean and comfortable with less inconvenience. The bidet tank sits inside the toilet bowl. In this way, it is filled with lukewarm water and cleaned. If the user is done, the hot water in the bidet should be tipped into the toilet and quickly flushed out.

Be sure you are completely washed and feel clean all over with the Bidet Tank. This facility usefully sits into a normal toilet bowl and turns the toilet into a bidet.  This can help to make the bathroom more practical and accessible for the disabled. Loaded with water, it can be used conveniently and is especially helpful when washing with toilet paper is difficult or when children feel uncomfortable using a deep toilet bowl.

Alarm for emergency purpose.

A toiled equipped for the disabled, should have a pull-out cord that unlocks the support detector. Every helpful accessible toilet requires an emergency warning cable. This means that someone who slips or needs help will give a signal of assistance. Emergency warning cables should be hung roughly 40 cm from the level ground within the full bowl parameter.

A warning button

The warning button should still be inside the bathroom, meaning the notified staff member must still reach the toilet (and search everyone inside) before turning the alarm on. Emergency pull cords are designed for use in a number of settings. Applications include home, industrial, residential, or public sector buildings.

Handy pull cords

Pull cords allow employees or patients to call for help in case of an emergency. 

Giving both a sound and a light alarm anytime somebody pulls a cord or clicks a call button. It might merge into a broader construction management scheme. This alarm can save lives as they can easily and immediately detect some emergency happening in the accessible toilet.

Summary on what is accessible for the disabled

Luckily, there are a variety or types of advanced accessories. Using a selection of these accessories makes toilet use favorable for disable people. Disabled people with different medical conditions will all have a variety of needs. Making the toilet more accessible for the disabled will vary from bathroom to bathroom.  They can now experience and enjoy the perks of having a toilet design according to their needs and requirements. Some PWD will now find comfort and help with their sanitation and hygiene while using the improved facilities. Others will still need physical encouragement to sit in the toilet and stand up when they’re done using it.

FURTHER READING FOR HOMEOWNERS AND FAMILIES