How safe- or otherwise- is it to help someone clean after they’ve been to the toilet?
Falls are among the top 10 causes of disability adjusted life years. Using the toilet is one of the most risky activities, especially among older people: approximately 20% of injuries/falls happen using the WC. And they are not all falls during transfer, but often from the contorting involved in wiping- or being wiped clean.
Using a Closomat shower (wash & dry) toilet eliminates that risk. The integrated douching and drying, triggered automatically by the flush mechanism, eliminates any need for manual cleansing with toilet tissue.
“Occupational Therapists often reference the integrated douching and drying as a great advantage re manual handling and user/carer safety,” explains Robin Tuffley, Closomat Marketing Manger. “You immediately eliminate all the contortion and balance-altering processes required to gain access to the person’s bottom, reach for toilet tissue, and wipe clean.
“The carer(s) is not trying to also support from the side whilst they also wipe, which is more strenuous and unnatural- with a corresponding increased risk of injury- than providing support from the front. Potentially, it means the number of carers required can be reduced too- you don’t need a carer to support the person, tip them forward, whilst another wipes the user’s bottom.- that alone can help justify the capital cost and achieve best financial value in a ‘year of care’ scenario.”
Closomat is the brand leader in UK shower toilets, and the only company that has developed its product to address the specific criteria of achieving optimum intimate care and hygiene for disabled and elderly people. Since it first introduced shower toilets to Britain over 55 years ago, more than 40,000 have been sold, many of which are still in daily use some 30 years since first being installed.
Closomat provides a complete specify, supply and fit package, and can include service, maintenance and repair. Its website www.clos-o-mat.com has a raft of information to help care services choose the most appropriate solution.
