This is about the help that you (would) need, most days, to
- get into and out of an ordinary un-adapted bath,
- get into and out of an ordinary un-adapted a shower,
- wash your lower body, your upper body and your hair, and
- get dry, and
- wash your hands, face or body when you need to.
And to do all of this:
- safely,
- in a reasonable time (no more than twice as long as a person without a disability would take),
- to an acceptable standard,
- whenever you need to through the day and the night,
- without too much pain, fatigue, dizziness, confusion, need for recovery.
The Questions:
Aids: To wash, bath and shower, what physical things do you use, that you would not need if you did not have your condition?
Prompting: Would you usually need someone to prompt, you, remind you, encourage you, or explain things to you? If so, which and why?
Physical Help: Would you usually need another person to physically help you to get into an ordinary un-adapted bath? Answer this question even if you never actually have a bath.
Physical Help: Would you usually need another person to physically help you to get into an ordinary un-adapted shower? Answer this question even if you never actually have a shower.
Physical Help: Would you usually need another person to physically help you to wash your body. Explain about washing above the waist, below the waist and washing your hair separately.
Safety: Would you usually need someone with you all the time that you are bathing, showering or washing, to keep you safe? If so, why?
Can’t do it: Is it true that even with all the help that you have described above, you:
- still can’t do it safely?
- still can’t bath, shower or wash in a reasonable time?
- still can’t do it without too much pain?
- can’t do it at all?
Download these questions in a word file
Example – Harry
Prompting:
I always need prompting to wash and bathe.
Since I became ill, I have lost all interested in life and everything seems pointless.
I can’t bring myself to manage even simple self-care tasks.
The only time I have a wash or shower is when my sister comes round and prompts and encourages me.
Example – Paula
Aids:
I use a bath-board to get into and out of the bath when I have a shower. I sit on the board, then lift my legs over the side. I have a rail to help with standing up but it isn’t much use because my grip is so weak.I have a brush on a stick to do my feet and a sponge-on -a-stick to do my back.
Physical Help Getting In and Out of a Bath:
As I have explained above, I can get to a standing position in a bath, but I could not then sit down, or get up from sitting without another person on each side of me.
Physical Help Washing:
I wash my body and hair independently, but it takes me a very long time. Maybe 25 minutes for what I used to do in five minutes.
If for some reason I had to shower in less than 10 minutes I would need physical help to wash my whole body and hair. ( I would never want this btw)
Also, the reaching and stretching necessary to shower is very painful. It might be more tolerable if I had physical help.
Safety:
I keep myself safe by going slowly. If I had to get showered in less than 10 minutes it would be much more risky and I would need someone with me all the time I was doing it to keep me safe.
Can’t do it:
Even If I had physical help, I think that showering would still take me more than 10 minutes, when it used to take five.
Even if I had physical help, showering would still be very painful
And even if I had someone with me, trying to shower in a reasonable time would still be risky. I’d still end up falling, it’s just that there would be someone there to pick me up or call the ambulance.