Why Are More Australians Upgrading Their Bathrooms for Safer Daily Living?

My neighbor spent three weeks researching bathroom grab bars last year. Not because she had a fall. Not because a doctor told her to. She just looked at her bathroom one morning and thought, honestly, this room is kind of a trap. She’s 58. Sharp as a tack. And she’s already future-proofing.

Australians have started to rethink the bathroom space, designing bathrooms with smart thinking and future health issues in mind. People all over the country are re-thinking their bathroom spaces without much fanfare and are finding creative ways to design bathrooms that incorporate accessible bathroom designs.

Ageing in place isn’t what it used to mean

For a long time, “ageing in place” was a sad topic to bring up in conversation. It was often brought up after a fall, a period of hospitalization, between a person and their family members. In fact, the term carried such weight and grief that it was a subject that people tried to avoid discussing.

As mentioned previously the way Australians are approaching ‘ageing in place’ is dramatically changing. Like smart home investments Australians are returning to older homes to complete modifications to ‘age in place’ prior to requiring assistance with daily living activities. It is interesting to note that only recently has there been a shift towards older Australians wanting to ‘age in place’ within their own homes, with the majority of serious injuries occurring within the bathroom. This is why the smart home investor will see value in returning to older homes to complete modifications within the bathrooms prior to others entering the market.

So rather than waiting until it costs you an arm and a leg to fix a problem that could have been fixed with simple design and modifications, invest in your home now to prevent injury and ensure that you are living safely and independently for as long as possible.

The bathroom is basically a hazard course with better lighting than it deserves

There are many hazards found within a typical wet area. The wet floor, hard surfaces, raised step over the shower, slippery taps, and other components can all increase the likelihood of a slip or fall. Often these incidents occur while carrying out normal activities such as getting dressed, brushing teeth, etc. As the majority of falls that occur within a home take place within the bathroom, this room is often responsible for a high number of serious domestic injuries and presentations to hospitals throughout the country.

The most common accidents to occur in bathrooms are slips and falls. These are most likely to happen while a person is completing everyday bathroom tasks, such as getting up from the toilet, reaching for toiletries, or stepping out of the shower. The most common incident of falling occurs when a person steps out of the shower with a wet foot on a slippery floor. Because slips and falls are a normal part of life, it also makes sense that the ways to fix falls should also become a normal part of life.

(There’s something almost maddening about that, isn’t there? That the riskiest room in the house is also the one we spend the least time thinking critically about.)

What a thoughtful upgrade actually looks like

While once common to see aged care bathroom fixtures as gray colored metal, with corresponding handrails, there are many other bathroom accessories on the market that not only assist with safe mobility within the bathroom, but can also complement the existing décor of high-end bathrooms. Prudent owners are specifying a wide range of products and colors that enable their bathrooms to continue to be aesthetically pleasing and to look great for years to come.

Practical upgrades worth considering:

• Non-slip flooring that doesn’t sacrifice aesthetics, available in a wide range of textures and finishes
• Walk-in or curbless showers that eliminate the step-over hazard entirely
• Lever-style tapware instead of round knobs, easier to operate with reduced grip strength
• Adequate lighting, particularly around the shower and near the floor
• Seating options, because standing for an entire shower is more tiring than most people will openly admit

A seat in the shower – a simple fix for a problem area for people with mobility problems as well as for those recovering from an operation or living with a chronic condition. A seat in the shower can be a ‘lifesaver’ for those people having trouble in the bathroom. Even if you don’t ‘need’ it, it’s definitely worth investing in a good quality seat for your own peace of mind, before you find you ‘need’ it.

Cost of common bathroom modifications compared

The highest-impact bathroom modifications are going to be some of the least expensive to install. That’s not to say that some clever DIY could not cost little to nothing but the reality is that the majority of bathroom hazards are created through ignorance. They are wet areas with hard surfaces on all sides, slippery surfaces and sharp edges, typically dimly lit with hard to grasp fittings and awkwardly configured to allow safe access.

Who’s actually driving this?

Reading through online forums regarding bathroom modifications for homes of older Australians and their families, it is interesting to note that adult children are driving the modifications in homes of older Australians in order to support their parents safe aging in place. Those adult children in their 40s to 50s are also making modifications to their own homes’ bathrooms in order to also ensure their safe aging in place.

Also of interest is the growing number of people living with disability and/or chronic illness, who are championing accessible design and bringing it into the mainstream. As long as something is well-designed and good for everyone, it becomes beautiful functional design, ceasing to be viewed as medical accommodation and becoming good design that is available to everyone.

I’ve already returned to my neighbor with the three weeks of research she’s done on grab bars and told her she’s not preparing for decline – she’s simply designed a great home for her future self.