RAZ AT Shower Chair
Every patient is unique. By being able to customise equipment further and tailor it to the specific needs of the user, we’re able to offer them optimal comfort and support, enabling the user to get the very most out of their mobility aid.
Following an ABI (acquired brain injury), the user began a stay at a rehabilitation centre. During this time, they used the RAZ-AT shower chair for showering, and for getting to and from hydroptherapy sessions. The chair worked well, but some changes were required to offer maximum support to the user.
Low motivation for showering
While in the rehabilitation centre, the user had low motivation for showering, and would only tolerate one shower per week. One of their key goals was to leave the rehab centre and return home, but to achieve this, a suitable shower chair was needed.
Wealden Rehab and the centre’s OT met to ensure that the shower chair would offer the correct support to enable the user to move back home. The user’s private OT also attended this visit as they were organising suitable housing and, as part of this process, wanted to ensure that the shower chair would be suitable fo the new bathroom.
A smaller chair meant fewer restrictions at home
During the joint visit, the client was hoisted into a RAZ-ART shower chair. The ART model was specifically chosen due to the unique tilting capability, meaning that the frame profile is smaller than other tilt-in-space models on the market. The smaller chair profile was important to the OT looking at a new home for the user, as this meant fewer restrictions with the size of the bathroom and the types of toilets that can be used.
Wealden Rehab also identified several accessories that could be used on the shower chair to improve the user’s position and postural support. These accessories enabled the client to be fully supported in the chair, and still have the necessary access for washing.
- An elevating leg rest was added on the right hand side, and options discussed for the left hand side.
- It was decided that we would remove a footrest and instead use padding on that side of the chair.
- By adding a lateral support, we were able to keep the client in a neutral, midline position in the chair.
Overcoming the client’s low motivation to shower
When entering the user’s room at the rehabilitation centre, it was immediately clear that they favoured the colour purple. Purple paintings were visible on the wall, they had purple stickers on their wheelchair and purple hair accessories. The OT explained that purple seemed to improve the user’s self-esteem and confidence to engage in activities throughout the day, and their ability to participate socially with other residents and staff at the centre.
The option to have a purple shower chair was mentioned as a possible way to increase the user’s motivation to shower. Wealden Rehab advised that a purple shower chair was possible, and we asked the user to identify their favourite shades so that we could match these as closely as possible. We also explained to the user the parts of the shower chair that could be coloured purple if they would like us to.
Purple shower chair results in the user taking three showers per week
Once the chair had been coloured purple and the accessories fitted in the Wealden Rehab workshop, it was delivered to the rehab centre. A few small tweaks to the headrest and lateral support were made during a subsequent revisit, making the chair perfectly suited to the user’s needs.
Wealden Rehab were delighted to be told that the new customised RAZ chair had increased the user’s motivation to shower and was now consistently tolerating not just one, but three showers per week in their new, purple shower chair. With this increased motivation, the client is now looking forward to moving into their own property when it becomes ready.