My mother is 93 in wheelchair with limited eyesight. The bathroom she uses has shower doors right next to toilet. The shower doors have been in 8 years and now need adjusting. I am thinking of replacing with rod and curtain. It is a step in shower no tub. My friend says to fix doors as if she grabs curtain she will fall. I am afraid she will fall thru doors. Any advice on how to make it safer for her?
I would opt for the curtain. (get one of the rods that has a curve to it so there is more room.) BUT..I would get a shower bench so that she can transfer from the chair to the bench and not have to stand. Stepping into a tub is dangerous and getting out more so since you would be wet and slippery.
If it is at all possible look into getting the tub changed to a Zero entrance shower so she can use a shower wheelchair and roll right into the shower.
If the bathroom has a regular flat ceiling, you could consider a Stander Curve security pole which is a tension pole mount so you have different placement options.
A remodel with real grab bars and an accessible shower would be better, but ...
But a shower curtain sounds like a better option. As mentioned already, people think the bars on them can support being pulled on to stand up, which they cannot.
A real grab bar for safety purposes should be installed by a professional. So as not to get confused and grab the shower door towel bars, a shower curtain would make sense.
How long did it take to get yours fixed? And did you use a local contractor or see it advertised on TV?
FYI, my grandmother once lost her balance in the bathroom and fell against mirrored closet doors. They shattered. Luckily, she did not get cut. That could happen with less expensive glass doors.
Mirrors cannot be tempered and thus can break into dangerous large pieces. I've worked in the construction industry for over two decades, have seen breaks of both tempered and not. No manufacturer would skip the law and not have tempered glass in a shower or normal door... they would be sued to Hell and back.
#1 Shower chair/seat
#2 Grab bars
#3 A shower curtain is a big NO
#4 Hand held wand in shower
#5 Suggest one-step body wash bottle in lieu of bar of soap as elder could drop the slippery bar of soap.
Of course I don't know what your budget is or how much work would be needed to adapt your mother's bathroom; but based on the number of social housing homes I see that do have wet rooms I can't imagine it's a hugely expensive project. Why not look into it?
Well positioned, properly fitted grab rails and a shower chair are also extremely important, I agree.
hand held shower wand - helps when being bathed and self cleaning
shower stool - non slip with handles
movement sensor lighting (if possible ) for bathroom so she can see and turns on automatically when she walks in- from experience they don't always turn on the light when using bathroom
nothing to trip on in bathroom
My mom was allowed an Occupational Therapist consultation we were given heaps of tips for safety -we accommodated as many as we could and the bathroom was much safer - sometimes the recommendations were to make the doorways and rooms bigger so be prepared for that if you get an Occ assessment but there are many other accommodations that can be made right away and inexpensively that will help relieve a lot of the hazzards -
I think the bathroom is where most falls happen so you are smart to focus on that area of the house