Customisation makes the shower dream happen

The unique needs of individual care equipment users mean that in many instances, there’s no off-the-shelf solution to enable them to achieve their goals. This was certainly the case for the user in this case study: a Ukrainian refugee who is living with his family in a British family home.

The user arrived in the UK with his wheelchair, which he could successfully transfer in and out of independently. However, having the correct support for independent and dignified bathing and toileting was proving to be a challenge. The user wanted to be able to maintain his own personal hygiene and was particularly trying to avoid using a commode pan, which he would then require support with emptying.

Wealden Rehab had previously carried out a demonstration for RAZ shower chairs to the OT team. An OT participant then reached out to us to say that they had a user who could benefit from this mobility aid, but that the user required a custom reclining backrest that wasn’t available as standard. They had previously spoken to other shower chair providers to see if such an option was possible and were advised that it wasn’t. The OT had also considered speaking to a charity that specialises in creating care aids from scratch but knew that this process would be time-consuming and potentially costly.

With a few simple tweaks to the RAZ AP shower chair, Wealden Rehab was able to provide an efficient, fast solution.

• The angle of the standard backrest was too steep for the user to transfer independently. Wealden Rehab looked at the angle of his current wheelchair (which he was able to transfer in and out of) and replicated this in the custom backrest.
• Standard shower chairs did not fit properly over the toilet and the angle of the customised back would prevent the user accessing the toilet in the usual, face-out position. The user didn’t require footplates, which meant that we could move the supporting bar usually located at the front of the frame to the rear. As a result, the front of the chair can be wheeled over the toilet, meaning the user can access it backwards and toilet independently.

The bespoke shower chair was then delivered and the user and OT are delighted with the results.