ACCESS THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE MARKETS

We’ve all been ‘caught short’- away from home and for whatever reason needed the toilet urgently. For most of us, it’s meant a dash to the nearest facility.

 

But what if you can’t dash? What if you have a disability- visible or invisible?

 

British Standards in best practice, particularly with regard to access & inclusion (i.e. BS8300:2018) have been updated, and now recognise that many disabilities are not visible, and that many people need urgent access to toilet facilities. For example, 6.5m people have continence issues- be it bladder or bowel- or both!

 

The Standard maintains that disabled people. It says they should be able to find and use suitable toilet accommodation no less easily than an able person. There is much emphasis in daily life on disabled equating to wheelchair. There are over 13million people registered disabled in the UK; there are 1.5million wheelchair users.

 

So the majority of disabled people don’t use a wheelchair. There are 6.5million carers in the UK. Thereoretically therefore, most disabled people, if and when they are away from home, have someone with them to help them.

Does that help extend to the toilet? Probably, even if it’s just to help open the door. It is another reason why there is such a need for a review of the legal requirements in the provision of accessible toilets.

 

Currently, if there is restricted space for any toilet, then the least that should be provided is a unisex wheelchair-accessible facility. In theory, it can be used by everyone. But for anyone who needs help, the venue’s door is still shut to them. There isn’t the space for a carer. There isn’t the privacy of even a screen.

 

We will never please all of the people, all of the time. But a slight change to the legal requirements would make society a lot more accessible to a significant proportion of the population.

WEIGHT AND TOILETING

There is a frightening connection between your body weight and your ability to go to the toilet.

 

It can mean that you can’t go to the loo without help. You need someone to wipe your bum.

 

The issue is affecting more and more of us- now 25% of the population is obese. New analysis says that obesity has tripled in the last 30 years. The research also maintains that, on figures relating to obesity, potentially there are over 12million people at risk of Type 2 diabetes.

 

Diabetes UK further says the number of limb amputations arising from the disease is at an all time high- more than 20 /day! The illness is the leading cause of amputation in Britain.

 

You may already be experiencing the impact that your weight has on your ability to go to the toilet. Think of the impact the loss of a limb has on that too.

 

For that most intimate of activities, you need help. You can’t easily get on or off the toilet. You can’t easily bend, twist, to wipe yourself clean. You risk falling off the WC if you try. You may be finding the seat brackets break more easily. You may not be able to sit properly over the pan. You may not be able to reach your intimate parts.

 

Going to the toilet is something we do on average eight times a day, so it impacts on you several times each and every day.

 

It’s not a subject usually discussed, particularly with our British reserve over matters toiletary. Just rest assured that help is at hand. Aids exist to help restore your independence in the loo. To restore your dignity. To give you back your privacy. And potentially make going to the loo an experience you look forward to, that actually improves your intimate hygiene.

 

Just push, wash & dry…

http://www.clos-o-mat.com

The Hidden Impact of Diabetes

More than 20 people a day have a limb amputated as a result of diabetes- a figure that is on the increase.

It’s a ‘hidden’ issue of the disease, an issue that is not widely publicised, but which might make some people who may be prone to the disease make those lifestyle changes that could prevent it developing.

Whether the illness was preventable or not, that still means over 7000 people each year have to adapt to a life-changing event, that affects every part of day to day life- even going to the loo.

Imagine if you suddenly found yourself reliant on your family, or a stranger, to help you do things you currently take for granted- making a brew and walking with it through to the lounge to watch TV, taking a shower, going to the toilet. It’s those little things where assistive technology can make a huge difference to someone’s ability to continue to live life, without having to rely on care support.

Most providers of care support think of assistive technology as telecare, but, as its name suggests, it is really any daily living aid that assists.

We know from our daily lives that technology that helps someone be able to go to, and use, the loo on their own is, to them, priceless. It may be anything from a grab rail, through a toilet lifter (the WC equivalent of a riser recliner chair) to a wash & dry (bidet) toilet. Whatever it is, it is still cheaper to provide than covering the cost of a carer going in every day just to help them go to the loo: even the ‘top of the range’ height adjustable wash & dry toilet is paid for within a matter of months when set against the cost of care support. It makes best use of available funds, and delivers better outcomes, as that carer is then freed for other duties where assistive technology can’t assist.

DIABETES- A HIDDEN IMPACT

Say diabetes to people, and they don’t logically think of toilets, but going to the loo is a bigger issue than you think.

 

A typical symptom of the disease is increased need to urinate. And suprisingly to many, diabetes is now the biggest cause of amputation in the UK: there are allegedly now some 10,000 amputees in the UK, and over 350 amputations a week, mainly as a result of the illness.

 

If you are missing limbs, it is difficult to carry out many daily tasks- including going to the toilet: without a hand, how do you clean yourself, without a leg, how do you sit safely, balance…?

 

We go to the toilet on average eight times a day, so the ability to do this, with independence and dignity, is an issue. A Clos-o-Mat, and/or Aerolet toilet lift, will go a fair way to restoring independence and dignity, at least in the toilet!