Renovate Bathrooms for the Elderly

Renovation guideline to make old bathrooms appropriate for the use of the elderly.

For the elderly of 60 years old or older, they become very prone to falling or slipping on elevated/grade separation surfaces. In fact, one-third of incidents of senior citizens per year happens in the bathroom. The major problem after the accident for most elderly people are hip fracture, broken hip, or brain damage. All of which may result in disability with a relatively high mortality rate.

A bathroom is a place where accidents can easily occur. If you have elderly people in the house, we recommend renovating the area and making it more secure by installing handrails in spaces that require sitting or standing for a long time, especially areas around the toilet and shower.

Additionally, the bathroom floor should be kept dry at all times. The surfaces should be leveled for better drainage while being at the same level as the floor outside the bathroom to prevent people from tripping. If the wet floor is unavoidable, we recommend putting an anti-slip tape in the bathroom hallway that the elderly usually passes regularly. If possible, you should change the bathroom floor to the type that has a slightly rough or unsmoothed surface. Moreover, the bathroom door should be a sliding door or casement door with a knob that could be opened from outside the bathroom as well. This is for safety purposes so that people could enter the bathroom quickly if there are any accidents.