Health Risks and Safety Assessments of the Bathrooms for the Elderly in Phatthalung Province, Southern Thailand

Abstract

The number of elderly people in Thailand has been increasing continuously. Using the toilets is a daily necessity for them. The aim of this study is to assess the elderly's toilets on health risks and safety. There were 278 respondents in this study which was carried out as an exploratory and descriptive study by investigating 278 bathrooms in Pa Phayom Sub-District, Phatthalung Province, Southern Thailand. The result revealed the risk hazard areas in the house for the elderly were bathrooms (202 respondents or 72.66%). The elderlies have experienced an accident in the bathrooms (42 respondents or 15.11%). Besides, the overall bathroom safety of elderly was acceptable. There were some items whose levels were unacceptable and poor such as insufficient toilet paper to use, no shower seat/chair, no backrest for the elderly who cannot sit on their own, no flush toilet, no handrails on the wall for support, no signal or alarm/call for helpers and narrow door. Hence, the government or health authority needs to educate the elderly or helpers to be more aware of health risks and safety measures of using the bathrooms among the elderly, to promote using the bathrooms which are safe or appropriate for their health and to support some facilities which help them to improve their bathrooms including specific emergency equipment in the toilet. These measures will assist in reducing the negative health effects and increasing safety among the elderly.

The Design and User Evaluation of Body-Transfer System via Sliding Transfer Approach for Assisting Functionally Impaired People

“…For care providers, wheelchair-bound patients are potentially the most dangerous due to wheelchair maneuvering and the process of transfer to the toilet or bathroom, contributing to more than 30% of accidents filed [42]. The lifting method is riskier because the bathrooms can cause someone to slip and fall during their use [43]. The transfer process from the conventional wheelchair to the bathtub and toilet has a high risk of failure due to the lifting method.…”