The vision of elderly care homes has changed radically in recent years. Professionals aim to propose a decent home to residents, with healthcare still on hand and a priority, but taking second place to quality of living and resident comfort.
A room in an elderly care home must primarily feel like a home, a private address, a place you can meet with family and friends no matter what your health looks like.
When designing and constructing new elderly care homes, close attention is paid to both common and private areas. These homes are designed to offer a dignified, comfortable and pleasant environment while discreetly integrating the medical facilities required for healthcare and daily routines.
The importance of bathroom areas in elderly care homes
Bathrooms are undoubtedly one of the most intimate places in an elderly care home. Bathrooms reflect our perceptions of our bodies, the intimacy of residents, when washing themselves with the assistance of the healthcare worker and frequently a loss of the ability to carry out daily tasks independently.
It is critical to feel at home in a bathroom, and the image reflected by this room must be supportive, gentle, comfortable and pleasant. Bathrooms are used every morning and every evening. Bathrooms also represent a private space shared with the healthcare worker when residents become very dependent. On this basis, bathrooms must offer reassurance. Residents must be able to put their personal belongings down and have reference points.
Unlike a hotel bathroom where users are just passing through for a few nights, bathrooms in elderly care homes are part of a home, a place where residents stay for a year or two, on average, according to recent data. It appears obvious that these bathrooms require the same efforts in terms of design and detail as a luxury hotel range.
Bathrooms in elderly care homes must be fully accessible from day one to avoid any frustrations for individuals still able to perform some tasks for themselves. These bathrooms must look great and benefit from the same trims as any other type of facility. Their primary role is to protect the privacy and intimacy of each and every resident.
A fashionable tiled prefabricated bathroom meeting PRM STANDARDS
Safety and accessibility take centre stage !
While we aim to offer hotel-style fittings in healthcare facilities, the health and safety of residents, and the working conditions of staff, must not be affected.
To this end, prefabricated bathrooms fitted in elderly care homes comply with the applicable PRM standards and allow residents still able to wash themselves to safely use the shower and basin thanks to equipment carefully selected based on quality and design.
The bathrooms are also designed for residents requiring assistance and the presence of a healthcare worker for their daily washing routines. The final product is optimised to protect the bedroom area, which has generally increased in size over the years in new elderly care homes.
Substantial work has been carried out to identify experienced suppliers offering quality products suitable for use in an elderly care home. To give a few examples, designer grab bars are chosen to meet the set requirements, rounded floor corners avoid water stagnating and damp spreading, and the PVC flooring is non-slip and meets the applicable standards to avoid any falls, no matter which style is preferred.
Baudet, the number one firm for prefabricated bathrooms in healthcare facilities, has established partnerships with experts in each field and can boast a relatively high level of specifications as an incentive for facilities to opt for designer equipment.
Opting for more dignified residential-style bathrooms
The market is changing and, at long last, alternatives exist to the traditional hospital bathroom with its ageing PVC flooring and characterless medical-style colours.
Prefabricated bathroom pods are just one of these alternatives. This option is solid and long-lasting, and has been popular with healthcare facilities for more than 25 years thanks to easy cleaning and strict hygiene standards. What’s more, the prefabricated bathroom system is compatible with a wide range of finishing touches, from flooring to the ceiling.
Since 1992, the industrial firm Baudet has been committed to designing pleasant and eye-pleasing bathrooms for any type of facility or home. Medical bathrooms have gained a new look by adapting the approach used for hotel bathrooms.
Trims are stylish, storage options are available and above all, the colour and material combinations have been enhanced to give a “just like at home” feel. The final result is pretty trendy, and gives a room where residents feel at ease.
Protecting privacy and intimacy
New transfer systems such as ceiling-mounted lifts simplify moving residents around, while protecting the health of staff by avoiding repeated transfers.
Unfortunately, these major technical innovations can hamper the privacy and intimacy of residents. Private spaces have an open plan design, the bathroom space leads into the bedroom, which can be delicate for both residents and their families visiting the bedroom. Just imagine a resident relaxing with their family with a view of the bathroom toilet, not great, right ?
To solve this problem, Baudet designed and patented its Easy Moove system. This lift system allows residents to protect their intimacy thanks to a bathroom with a door and no ceiling, leaving room for a ceiling-mounted lift rail for 100% mobility in the space between the bedroom and the bathroom.
The prefabricated solution allows for assistance while offering a great design, protecting users, whatever their situation.
The ceiling lift can cover the entire bedroom.
The bathroom design matches the bedroom to give a coordinated finish.
Once the door is shut, the resident has his or her privacy.
When designing a bathroom for elderly care homes, Baudet attempts to put itself in the positions of residents and healthcare workers in order to propose a space where anybody would feel at ease, with no discomfort and no loss of privacy.
