Extra Care Housing and Bathroom design

Hello,

I would like to raise a topic on the Discussion Forum but also ask
whether you are aware of any other advice or examples of good practice
might be available?

The Question I would like to ask is:-

Extra Care Housing development - the case for shower cubicles as an
alternative to shower curtains?

We are currently developing a new build Extra Care Housing scheme with
Health and Wellbeing centre, and we are interested to know of good
examples and innovative thinking around bathroom designs. Specifically,
we are interested to know of schemes which have included shower cubicles
in wet room designed bathrooms. The standard design incorporates a
ceiling mounted curtain rail and a shower curtain. We are unhappy with
this proposal for a number of reasons, including Health and Safety (the
user may use the curtain as support or it may "cling" to them when in
use, creating a trip hazard) and as we are looking to balance the needs
within the scheme, not everyone will require a level access/wheelchair
accessible bathroom and the wet room with shower curtain can look rather
like a "care home" or assisted bathroom. We also need to consider how a
person with dementia would respond to a shower curtain rather than a
shower cubicle. Although we want the flats to be designed and
constructed to lifetime homes standards wherever practical, we also want
them to look as appealing and "normal" as possible. We don't think that
wet rooms with shower curtains gives the "normal" appearance that we are
looking for. We are seeking good examples of a compromise solution, such
as installing shower cubicles in a wet room designed bathroom, which can
easily be removed and replaced with a shower screen (or curtain) as and
when the need arises. We would also be interested to know if developers
of ECH schemes have considered including baths rather than all being
shower rooms. Can anyone help?

I look forward to your reply.

Regards

Steve Sylvester
Locality Commissioning Manager/Telecare Projects Manager
Tel. Mobile:- 0779 554 1143

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