Why the bathroom is the most dangerous room
The bathroom holds every hazard in the house at once. Hard surfaces, water on the floor, a high tub wall to step over, a low toilet to get down onto and up from, and often no light at night. It's also the room where people go alone and shut the door, so a slip is less likely to be heard.
Families feel this too. In the 2024 AARP Home and Community Preferences Survey, bathroom safety features were the change most often considered by adults 50 and older who are thinking about modifying their homes.
The small fixes that come first
Grab bars at the toilet, in the shower and at the tub edge come first. We fix them into the wall structure, never with suction cups, because a bar only helps if it holds a full body weight when someone grabs it in a hurry. A handheld shower head lets a person wash sitting down. A shower seat, a non-slip floor and an anti-scald valve finish the first round.
When the tub itself is the problem
When stepping over the tub wall is the danger, bars only go so far. The fix then is a curbless or walk-in shower where the tub was, or a walk-in tub for someone who wants to keep bathing. A comfort-height toilet helps once standing up from the seat has gotten hard. The assessment tells you whether your bathroom needs the conversion now, later or never.
How to make a bathroom handicap accessible
Start with how the person moves. Someone with a cane needs bars and a seat. Someone in a wheelchair needs a clear circle of floor to turn in, a door wide enough to roll through, a roll-in shower with no curb and a sink with open space underneath for the knees.
Then work from the door inward. Widen the doorway first, since nothing else matters if the chair stops at the frame. The shower comes next, then the toilet at a comfortable height with a bar beside it. Lever handles and a lower mirror finish the room.
If someone is coming home from the hospital
A discharge from the hospital or rehab often hangs on the bathroom. If the person can't get in and out of the tub safely, the plan can stall. Tell us the discharge date when you call, and the bathroom fixes get planned against it.
Questions families ask
Are suction cup grab bars safe?
We won't install them. A suction bar can let go under a sudden pull, which is the one moment it has to hold. Every bar we put up is fixed into the wall structure.
How do you make a small bathroom handicap accessible?
Take out what eats floor space. A curbless shower in place of the tub, a wall-hung sink and a door that swings out or slides all give back room a chair or walker needs. In a very tight room, a fold-down shower seat and a handheld shower do more than any new fixture.
Does Medicare pay for grab bars?
Original Medicare doesn't cover grab bars or other home modifications, even when a doctor recommends them. Some Medicare Advantage plans offer home safety benefits, so ask yours directly.
The fix
Bars into solid wood, a seat, a handheld shower and, when the tub wall is the danger, a shower with no step. The work lives under bathroom safety and remodeling, with help from lighting and home safety.