Posts tagged Homecare from The Consortium
Bath-Knight Easy-Access Showers: Comfort on a tight budget
Jun 10th
Many manufacturers build bath solutions for mobility impaired individuals. However, what if you are in the mood for a relaxing shower rather than a bath?
This is particularly true when it’s a hot & sultry summer’s day – after all, who wants a warm bath then? Or even a cold bath?
This is where mobility showers comes into play.
They allow you to either stand or sit inside a watertight chamber, and take a shower, without being concerned about the area getting waterlogged. Better still, these solutions need less space and less modification to your existing set ups than installing a full-fledged mobility bathing solution.
However, you must be careful when purchasing a mobility shower. There are serious safety issues at play. So, from the crew at Mobility Compare, here are a few simple guidelines:
First of all, make sure the shower floor is made of non-slip material, for obvious reasons. Wet floors can be more slippery than you think, and a nasty fall can easily cause permanent body damage. In fact, the Dept of Health cites slips and falls as the ‘biggest single cause of mortality for people aged 75 or over’.
He should have taken our advice…..
The shower we recently tested, Bath-Knight to be exact, had an excellent non-slip floor, which was also easy to clean. This product has attracted the attention of our team, but we’ll talk about that in a minute.
Secondly, it is always good to have a sturdy handrail on the shower wall that you can hold comfortably while standing straight. This will provide additional safety benefits, especially if you have difficulty standing because of your mobility impairment.
It is even better if the shower has a seating option. That way, you will be completely safe while you enjoy your shower.
Care-Knight, the manufacturer of the Bath-Knight shower range we just mentioned, seems to have thought of all these factors, and then some. The Easy Access Showers from this renowned manufacturer come with an option for getting instant hot water, from the moment you walk in. The shower panels are watertight and have a safety catch, ensuring that not a drop of water falls outside while you take your shower. A grab rail and seating arrangement further ensure complete safety to you while using the shower.
This was one of the very best showers that we found, especially for people on a tight budget and not much space in the bathroom. Do not forget to consider this shower in your hunt for the perfect walk-in shower solution.
Finally, if you don’t want to purchase a new shower or bath yet your mobility is failing, take a look at fitting a grab rail. Homecare from the Consortium sell a really good grab rail (and even a standing pole if you need further assistance from a static mobility aid). They can be reached by clicking here whilst Bath-Knight can be reached by clicking here.
No, it’s not for pole dancing…
Give the elderly disabled more choice and a better deal
Mar 17th
There’s a conundrum about the way we expect the elderly disabled to buy products in this country. We rely on them to haul themselves to a mobility shop – usually based off a busy three lane highway full of fast flowing traffic – and, assuming they manage to make it there, somehow expect them to know what products exist to help their disability.
Right…….
We also expect them to pay a lot of money for mobility aids and accessories that can be old fashioned as well as over-priced. And the tragedy is that there are products available in other countries that they might never see or hear about, some of which could address their needs better and at a much better price.
What’s sad is that the UK elderly have grown up in a country that has been internationally envied for invention and innovation. However, it is not easy for manufacturers to sustain creativity in mobility whilst in a country where the biggest customer is a nationalised health service.
In other countries, like the US, product design for the elderly is consumer-driven and, of course, the market is bigger. This provides more choice and a greater focus on style when it comes to designing products.
It is testament to this growing need that British supermarkets are starting to be attracted to the potential of the mobility market, but they can only give shelf space to products likely to sell in large quantities and which have been designed down to a price point. There has been little development in the products needed to support carers or the cared for.
See the problem? The people at Mobility Compare can see it clearly and so can I.
So maybe the future of shopping for disability aids for older customers and their carers could be more variety, better designed products, sourced worldwide, purchased from and delivered to your own home?
On this point I need to alert you to Homecare from The Consortium, a forward thinking Wiltshire-based company that has been serving care homes for nearly 40 years. It has designed an on-line store (www.homecare-products.co.uk) that is easy to navigate and use with hundreds of reasonably priced quality products – many of which are new to this country. All the products and accessories are grouped to help specific problems or disabilities.
Is it an idea that might catch on? Time will tell. Homecare has only just launched its service this spring. But we wish it every success in bringing smart, affordable and innovative mobility aids and accessories to the market. It deserves it.
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