difficulty getting in bath

[booogie123]

hello just wondered if someone can give me some advice please,my partner is in the support group esa , he needs both his knees replacing he is having trouble getting in and out of the bath ,hes far to heavy for me to help him and grab rails are useless his knees give way and thats him stuck in the bath ,we have not long moved in to this house did a exchange to be closer to family here, in our old home a bungalow we had a shower room not fitted for us was there when we moved in ideal for us but the bungalow was in the wrong location we had to move to be closer to family for support, what i need to no is would we be able to get a shower room fitted by our housing ?someone told me we can get a grant to have one put in is this right? thanks for any help anyone can give

[AmyS]

Hi, have you contacted your local Occupational Therapist - through GP or Council, they'll provide lots of goodies to make you comfortable.

In the past had bed raisers, furniture rises, perching stool, banister rail in hallway (installed it), bath seat - sit on and slide across - no stepping in or out of a bath. This was to get me by.

Then Occupational Therapy arranged for a grant and I now have a complete wetroom fitted, no more stepping in and out of a bath to shower (yes shower was in the bath). Now I have a raised toilet, wash basins with extended tap handles, a walk in shower, seat with arms, hand rails and also two forms of heating in the bathroom to suit my disability - a floor to wall heated towel radiator and a wall convector heater.

All compliments of a grant.

You need to speak to your GP to get the referral or you can contact Occupational Therapist directly in your area. They'll pop out and do an assessment.

[Lighttouch]

Your husband has had knee surgery and no doubt will get better. In the meantime you need a quick fix to help him out.

What you need to do is get in touch with the one-stop-shop that deals with minor adaptations that should be free and fitted quickly,

Your husband needs a

- raised toilet seat with hand holds either side to aid pushing up
- swivel bath seat which sits on the bath and enables your husband to shower in comfort. Assuming you have a shower over the bath.
- bath board
- plastic raiser box to stand on - makes it easier to get into bath
You can get all this stuff for free from the Council.

If you want a wet room fitted that will be via the 'Disabled Facilities Grant and is means tested. I'd love one but I'm not entitled to one as I have savings.

[beau]

Try a bath lift, there are many designs including one with swivel seat. You sit on the lift and use a hand control to lower and higher you.

[Moody]

Look on your local authority web page for "accessible homes" or "home adaptations". There is a bit of form filling and these days often a long wait ( around 8 weeks in this area ) but the help is there. The grants are means tested here. I don;t know if that is a nationwide policy or on an area by area basis

[reddivine]

Your husband has had knee surgery and no doubt will get better. In the meantime you need a quick fix to help him out.

What you need to do is get in touch with the one-stop-shop that deals with minor adaptations that should be free and fitted quickly,

Your husband needs a

- raised toilet seat with hand holds either side to aid pushing up
- swivel bath seat which sits on the bath and enables your husband to shower in comfort. Assuming you have a shower over the bath.
- bath board
- plastic raiser box to stand on - makes it easier to get into bath
You can get all this stuff for free from the Council.

If you want a wet room fitted that will be via the 'Disabled Facilities Grant and is means tested. I'd love one but I'm not entitled to one as I have savings.

To be precise its not the "council" you have to go through OT and social services.
i have shower over the bath (it was design when the houses were built) and I too have has the bath board and now the swivel seat.
WHICH is entirely depedant on your bathroom and your disability, weight etc. SO OT is the first point of call.

[booogie123]

thanks for all the advice my partner has to wait till his 65 for his knees to be done we have been told and he is 40 now long wait ,he has arthritis in his hips back and neck and shoulder too so a shower room would be best for him,ill look in to all the advice you have given thanks again