Introduction
Living with chronic illness often requires an individual to constantly think about physical needs. We can’t help what goes into our bodies, but the need for some type of regular care is not always an easy thing to manage on your own.
But what happens when you can’t get out of bed? That’s the conundrum faced by many seniors who are slowly succumbing to their illnesses and who don’t have any family nearby to help care for them. Due to the lack of family members who can provide those types of services, many seniors are forced to stay in their own homes even as they prepare for death.
Home health care systems have been around for a long time. They started in the late 19th century with home nurses and later evolved into nursing homes that provided much-needed attention and care to patients. But as the cost of medical care has been skyrocketing, it seems that many patients have been left behind. As such, innovative companies have recently started to find new ways to provide health care services at home and keep their elderly customers out of hospitals.
In the United States, 15.2% of the population is elderly. As of 2012, this group made up just over a tenth of the population and was projected to grow steadily in size for decades to come. With increasing life expectancy, increasing obesity rates among children and adults, and more people moving into retirement homes or living alone without family members nearby, it is more important than ever that we address some of these issues with caregiving on behalf of all ages.
Who’s Afraid?
It has been found that on average seniors experience two falls per year on average. This can be a serious injury for someone already lacking mobility or with medical conditions such as diabetes or urinary incontinence. Senior homeowners might be scared to ask for help with caregiving or may feel embarrassed that they need help. There is already a stigma attached to needing assistance and getting the right help can be hard.
Possible Solutions
One of the most promising solutions comes from a seemingly unlikely place: the toilet seat. An interdisciplinary group of experts, including engineers, occupational therapists, gerontologists, and designers have created a toilet seat that could improve senior care and reduce fall-related injuries for seniors in their own homes. The Care Seat is designed to help seniors by giving them something more to hold onto than a cold plastic seat as well as an easier way to change positions from sitting on a toilet to standing up (or vice versa).
Toilet Seat Could Transform Home Health Care For Seniors
1. Why the Toilet Seat
Toilets are an important part of our lives. The percentage of home care homes that provide toilet assistance has decreased from 23 percent in 2004 to 15 percent in 2008 (elderhousing.org), and as many as 30-50 percent of older adults who live alone and have no family present eventually require assistance with daily activities such as toileting, bathing, or feeding (eldercare.gov). These conditions can create a domino effect on a senior’s health over time, especially if they are left untreated due to fears of getting weak or needing help.
2. The Design
The toilet seat is designed to attach to a toilet and includes armrests that can be extended outwards. The width of the armrests increase as they extend, making it easier to grab onto the material. The rest of the device is made out of plastic with a cushion that could be removed or attached depending on a person’s preferences. The idea is that this easy-to-use toilet seat could help seniors maintain some independence while also taking some of the burden off them so they are less likely to fall or cause injury to themselves.
3. The Research
The Care Seat is currently in the design phase and has been tested on volunteers in a clinical study. The Care Seat has already been approved by the FDA for sale, but the manufacturer will not go into production at this time unless there are sufficient sales. The model of toilet seat currently under consideration by smaller companies contains only 4 armrests and does not have wheels, but it was very successful in clinical testing and could be an even better version of this device with slight adjustments.
4. The Challenges
This technology has the potential to improve and save lives, but there are still many challenges that must be addressed before the toilet seat is a reality. First, it will need to be tested in larger populations with seniors and healthy people to look for any trends. The results from these studies will then have to be validated before going into larger production.
The best way for this device to go into production would be for it to be sold alongside other toilet seats so customers can see if it is easier on their bodies or if their personal preferences could make the product work better for them than others.
5. The Future
Toilet-Seat designers and entrepreneurial companies will continue to come up with solutions for family caregivers and need to continue looking for new ways to involve people in this growing market. This is a promising and new way to provide a convenient alternative for home care that could improve senior care.
Conclusion
This toilet seat could provide seniors in their own homes with a way to improve their overall health without having to spend a lot of money on it (especially with the government providing less and less in home care). There are many potential benefits to the invention, but it will be necessary to keep testing the device and comparing it against existing products on the market to see if more consumers would be interested in this product. The results from these studies will help determine whether or not this device is worth putting into production.
At the end of my first year at TIF, I was able to give back by helping someone I cared about. In my experience, volunteering for TIF allowed me to grow as a person.