4 Tips to Make the Shower Safer for Aging Parents
If you’re a caregiver to your aging parent, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with knowing how to help them in the bathroom. Especially if your parent doesn’t want to take a shower!
There can be a lot of reasons behind Mom or Dad not wanting to shower, but the most common reason is a fear of falling.
This forces people to sponge bathe at the bathroom sink, which doesn’t help people thoroughly clean all the nooks and crannies!
Your parents deserve better and YOU deserve an easier time helping them, my caregiver friend! That’s why I wanted to share four changes to make to the shower to help Mom feel safe and secure. Watch the video below or keep reading!
1) Make it safer to get in and out of the tub or shower for aging parent
The biggest reason why people stop taking showers and start taking sponge baths is because they’re afraid of falling while getting in and out of the shower.
Research backs them up, too! The CDC says the number one place people fall at home is while they’re stepping out of the shower. These falls can lead to serious injuries and hospitalizations.
On a personal note as an occupational therapist, I’ve helped MANY people recover in the hospital and rehab after a fall in the shower. These injuries are gnarly and take a huge toll on the patient and their families.
So how can you make the shower safer and easier to get in and out?
Install a vertical grab bar (not a suction cup “grab bar”) at the shower entry into studs or wood blocking inside the wall. The sturdy grab bar will help your parent feel secure while stepping in and out of the shower.
Here are some examples of grab bars below:
If you’d like information on the best types of grab bars for people with dementia, please check out this resource here.
“But we have a tub shower and my mom can’t lift her leg over the ledge.”
Not to worry! There are a couple of different things you can do!
Place a tub transfer bench with a backrest inside the tub shower so that one side is inside the shower and the other side is outside of the shower. See what I mean with the image below:
The Wright Stuff
The tub transfer bench will allow your parent to sit down on the seat outside of the shower and slowly scoot across the seat while lifting their legs up one at a time over the tub ledge. Take a look at this video to see more!
Tub transfer benches are fantastic for letting people feel safe and take their time getting inside the tub shower! I recommend tub transfer benches for all of my clients with tub showers, especially for those people experience leg weakness, dizziness, and fatigue.
(FYI: If you purchase anything through the Amazon links, I receive a tiny commission that helps run this website! Thank you!)
Tub Ledge Cut Out by Home Ability
Another option is to cut the tub ledge to make the height shorter for your parent to step over like in the picture to the right.
This is really inexpensive compared to the cost of remodeling your bathroom. The only downside is that no one can bathe in the tub anymore.
I recommend cutting the tub ledge if no one in the household takes baths anymore anyway! Might as well make your bathroom fit your needs right now.
2) make the bathroom warmer for aging parent
As we all get older, we’re more susceptible to feeling cold. Yes, you can blame Nature for making our skin thin as we age!
So your parent may not like taking showers because the bathroom feels as cold as the arctic zone to them!
If you REALLY love your parent (laying those guilty feelings on extra thick), radiant floor heating would be the prime choice to keeping them warm during showers.
Here’s an example of what exposed radiant floor heating looks like in the image below. Once installed, radiant floor heating has material placed on top of it, like tile. I really like how Westside Tile and Stone put radiant floor heating on the built in bench inside of the shower.
Warm feet and buns!
Westside Tile and Stone showing their handy work with radiant floor heating.
There are a lot of benefits to radiant floor heating:
can be placed under shower flooring
cost efficient in small spaces, like bathrooms
work best under tile flooring
the warmth keeps arthritic bones, ligaments, and muscles loose which helps your parent keep their balance better while walking!
You’ll pay a bit more for the radiant floor heating installation upfront, but you’ll save energy and have even heating throughout the bathroom over time.
Use towels to warm your aging parent
If radiant floor heating isn’t in the budget, you can place a warm towel around your parent’s shoulders and lap while they’re washing their body. Usually, placing extra dry towels on the shoulders and lap does the trick, however, it definitely means there will be more laundry to do later.
As soon as the shower’s finished, keep more dry towels within reach to help your parent dry off and then throw a luxurious warm, robe on to keep ‘em cozy. Voila!
3) put shower items within reach of your aging parent
Have you ever stepped into your nice, warm shower and realized you forgot your soap outside of the shower?
So frustrating!
That means you have to step out of the shower while dripping wet, get your soap, and then traverse over the slippery floor to step inside of the shower. We really don’t want this to happen to our parents because walking on slippery floors leads to a greater chance of falling in the bathroom.
The solution to avoid slipping on the bathroom floor is shower storage!
Placing shower storage inside of the shower keeps all of your parents soaps, shampoos, and other shower items within reach. If your parent sits while showering, make sure that the shower storage is placed for her to reach her shower items while sitting. If your parent prefers to stand while showering, put their shower items in a place where they can effortlessly reach them while standing.
Pro tip: place the shower storage system in front of your parent or to the side of their body. This limits the amount of twisting, bending, and overreaching to grab the soap.
Shower storage systems are great tools to lessen the chance of falling in the shower, shorten time in the shower, and improve your parent’s ability to take care of themselves.
Nowadays, there are shower storage systems in every shape, color, material, and price point! Personally, I’d thrift for shower storage systems prior to buying one from a big box store or online.
4) non skid bathroom floors for aging parent
Another way to help your parent feel more confident in the shower is to make the flooring non skid. When the shower floor feels safe to walk on, your parent is more likely to want to shower on a frequent basis. Let’s get into tips on how to make the floor non skid:
Rubber backed bathmats for aging parent
The best place to put a rubber backed bathmat is at the shower entry. This mat will help your parent dry the bottoms of their feet when stepping out of the shower.
Practicality + comfort = happy parent
I can’t emphasize the word “rubber backed” enough. The bathmat must NOT be able to move whatsoever. A rubber-backed bathmat will stay put on the floor and not go anywhere.
Rubber backed bath mats are really easy to find online or in stores. This is hands down one of the most excellent $20 you’ll spend to make your parent safer.
Non skid decals and non-slip spray for aging parent
Now, inside of the shower you may use non skid decals on the tub shower floor. Non skid decals are strips of adhesive that give resistance to the shower floor. They work really well for fiber glass showers!
It’s simple to apply non skid decals to the shower floor. First, ensure that the shower floor is completely dry. Then wipe the floor with rubbing alcohol— you know, to make sure the floor is really really dry. Lastly, apply the non skid decals where ever your parent walks in the shower.
Non skid decals are inexpensive and easy to find at any box store or online.
Be warned that the non skid decals come off the floor over time. They’re definitely not a permanent option to keep your parent from slippin’ and slidin’.
If you don’t want to apply non skid decals, you could also consider applying non skid coating to your flooring. Non skid coating is a little more expensive than the decals, but it may last a little longer than the decals.
do not use suction-cup mats for aging parents
What you DON’T want to use are suction-cup mats. These things are deceptively treacherous!
If the water’s flowing and you step on that mat the wrong way, the suction-cup mat will slide right underneath your foot and take you to Slam Town.
And none of us want to go there.
If a suction-cup mat is all you’ve got, slowly and gently place your foot directly on top of the mat while walking. This will keep the mat from slipping out from underneath your feet.
If you use the non skid decals or non slip coating, you should not need a suction-cup mat at all.
non skid bathroom flooring for aging parents
Are you planning a bathroom remodel? If the answer is ‘yes’, consider installing non skid bathroom flooring!
If you want a durable, non skid floor to keep your parent safe in the comfort of their own bathroom for a lifetime, then non skid bathroom flooring is the way to go!
To learn more about the best types of non skid bathroom flooring for fall prevention, go HERE. By the way, radiant floor heating works really well with non skid bathroom flooring!
Do you feel ready to make the shower safer for your aging parent?
Now that you’ve gone through these tips, what changes are you going to make your bathroom at home? Have you already made some of these changes? Please share your thoughts and experience in the comments below!
(Pssssttttt . . . did you know we have an awesome online course for people who have a hard time wiping after using the toilet? It’s an awkward topic that you can learn how to solve in the comfort and privacy of your own home! Learn more about the course HERE!)