A Brief Buying Guide to Shower Seats for Care Homes
A good shower seat can make all the difference in helping a disabled person to take a shower. It can also relieve their caretakers of some of the workload in their daily duties. The market for shower seats for care homes is quite diverse nowadays, with plenty of different products that can fit most types of situations.
Finding a good shower seat can take a while if you’ve never shopped around for one before. Depending on your situation, you might have different factors to consider here.
Different Types of Shower Seats
There are three main types of shower seats: stools, chairs, and wall-mounted shower seats. Each design has its advantages and disadvantages. Some manufacturers might group them together in slightly different ways, but the basic idea stays the same.
· Shower stools are great for relatively light situations, such as people who can generally take care of themselves but need some additional support occasionally. They are made to be lightweight and portable and require minimal maintenance. They also tend to be cheaper compared to other designs.
· Shower chairs are more stable and come with armrests for additional support. They usually also feature stronger back support and sturdier legs. Shower chairs are useful for people who need some additional support, especially when sitting down and getting up. Armrests can make a huge difference in those cases, and the stronger back support can make prolonged shower sessions more comfortable.
· Wall-mounted shower seats should be considered in cases where the bathroom is too small for a regular chair, or when the person needs even more support in getting up. This design is more stable in situations when a person leans towards one side when getting in and out of the chair. Normal, free-standing chairs can more easily tip over in those cases. The main downside to wall-mounted shower seats is that they require extra work in their installation. This is something that should generally only be handled by an expert.
Stable Design
Just because wall-mounted shower seats are the most stable doesn’t mean that other designs can’t comfortably support the full weight of a person. Some models are made to be as sturdy as possible and will not tip over or buckle under a lot of weight, no matter how much a person leans on them. Rubber feet and rubberised grips can further improve the stability of a shower seat and make it more comfortable.
Balance Between Easy Adjustment and Safety
Generally, designs of shower seats attempt to balance ease of adjustment and safety. The two are not mutually exclusive, but there is definitely a connection. Making a shower seat easier to adjust usually involves additional moving parts. And each of those can compromise the safety of the entire chair if it eventually fails.
Good chair designs use expensive parts and expert craftsmanship to avoid these issues. That’s why it’s a good idea to spend more money if you’re planning on purchasing a seat with extra adjustability features. Make sure to consult a specialist to ensure that your shower seat will be suitable for your specific situation. Companies like NHC Group can provide you with a lot of insight into this type of purchase and guide you to the best option for your needs. As long as you understand your requirements well enough, you just need to listen to their advice.
Draining and Cleaning
Cleaning a shower seat is usually not very difficult, unless the design features lots of parts that have to be disassembled for deeper cleaning. Draining is a more important feature in this regard. A good shower seat should drain as quickly as possible and without any additional intervention. For example, it shouldn’t be necessary to tilt the seat and keep it that way to ensure all water gets out. Otherwise, you’re going to run into various problems down the road. From rust to mould, you definitely don’t want to purchase a model which has the tendency to accumulate water anywhere. That’s another reason to invest in a more expensive shower seat, as those are usually extensively tested to ensure that they don’t retain any water at all. And the faster your seat is able to drain, the easier it will be to schedule for each shower and generally keep things simple for the person using the seat and those assisting them.
As you can see, it doesn’t take much to find the ideal shower seat for a care home. You just need to approach this with a good understanding of your situation and what it requires and let experienced specialists take over and do the rest. You might be surprised by the diversity of products on this market and how useful some of them can be. Investing in a good shower seat can be a life changer for some people.
