How to Buy Bath Safety Equipment

Bath safety equipment is a category of home health care equipment that is very useful to anyone with limited mobility, maneuverability or stability. Encompassing everything from shower seats and wall bars to raised toilet seats, this equipment can restore independence often lost with illness or age. Follow these steps to make buying bath safety equipment an easy and beneficial process.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Know what you need. It is unlikely that you will need to outfit an entire bathroom with safety equipment, but it is not uncommon to need more than one thing at a time, especially if they work in conjunction with one another, like shower benches with grab bars or toilet seat elevators with wall railings. Focusing on the key pieces you require will help keep you from becoming confused by the variety of items available to you.
2. Measure before shopping. Take dimensions of any part of your bathroom where you will be putting equipment. Write these dimensions down so you can take them with you when shopping. Knowing the height, depth and length of showers, walls and toilet seats will ensure that the equipment you purchase will fit properly in your bathroom.
3. Take the person needing the equipment with you. If you are purchasing bath safety equipment for someone else, let them be a part of the selection process whenever possible. This will allow them to decide if they feel comfortable using and relying on the equipment before you buy it.
4. Consider durability. This equipment will likely be used one or more times a day, so it will need to withstand frequent use. Check legs on bath seats and benches to make sure they are sturdy and look for non-skid feet to keep them steady in the bathtub. Wall bars should be made of aluminum or heavy-grade plastic and should have multiple anchors to hold them securely in the wall. Toilet seat risers should also be heavy duty plastic and should have some sort of locking or latching mechanism to hold them in place.
5. Read the directions. If the bath safety equipment you are purchasing requires assembly or installation, read the directions that come with the packaging or ask a salesperson to explain the process to you. Improperly assembled or installed equipment can cause both injury and damage to your home, so it is important that you feel confident making the equipment ready for use.
6. Choose a reputable brand. Though the home health care equipment field is large, there are a few key brands and manufacturers that are leaders in this sort of equipment because of the usefulness and durability of their products. Ask a salesperson what they recommend and with which products other customers have been satisfied.
7. Look for other helpful options. There are often smaller items that are specifically designed to complement a larger piece of bath safety equipment and further improve the user's safety and stability. For example, if you are buying a bath bench, you may also want to consider a hand-held shower extension to aid the person in bathing and washing their hair. A person who requires a grab bar on the wall to get up and down may also benefit from a reaching aid to help them get things off high shelves. Ask about these items when purchasing your equipment.