My grandmother refused to use a shower chair for two years. Two full years of my mum quietly worrying every morning, listening for sounds from down the hallway. When Gran finally agreed to try one, her exact words were, “Why didn’t anyone just make it look less like a hospital?” Which, honestly, is a fair critique of how we’ve historically thought about bathroom safety products.
The bathroom is one of the most hazardous rooms in the home, particularly for falls. Many accidents happen because of slippery tiles and awkward angles, as well as where water hits a hard surface. Most people do not even consider bathroom safety until an accident happens and a 2am call is received saying that a fall has occurred in the bathroom.
The products that actually get used
In contrast to grab bars that are usually installed in the bathroom with great fanfare and then are never seen or used again, a good quality non-slip bath mat is one of the few products that actually prevents falls in bathrooms. It is the unglamorous workhorse of bathroom safety, and it is often found collecting dust in the hardware stores, but it is a very effective and simple solution to preventing falls in the bathroom.
The types of bathroom safety products that are ‘invisible’ to use are those that do not draw attention to the user’s limitations within the bathroom. In other words the types of products that are there to assist the user and to make their daily tasks easier to manage, without drawing attention to the user’s lack of ability to manage within the bathroom.
- Non-slip bath mats: Simple, cheap, and genuinely effective. Look for ones with strong suction cups underneath, not the decorative kind that slide around the moment things get wet.
- Long-handled bath sponges and brushes: Criminally underrated. These make washing easier for anyone with limited reach or joint pain, without requiring any installation or structural changes whatsoever.
- Liquid soap dispensers (wall-mounted): Fumbling with a slippery bar of soap while wet and off-balance is more dangerous than it sounds. A fixed dispenser removes one small, nagging risk that accumulates over time like water damage behind a wall.
- Raised toilet seats: Quietly life-changing for anyone with hip or knee issues. The difference between a standard seat height and a raised one can determine whether someone uses the toilet independently or not — full stop.
There is also a strong correlation between using bathroom aids independently and a sense of dignity. Most people want to carry out their personal bathroom activities (bathing, dressing and using the toilet) independently for as long as possible. There is great psychological benefit in being able to complete tasks for oneself and doing things independently is a significant aspect of daily living. Many people fear losing their independence in the bathroom more than any other area of the home.
So where does a person even start?
Start with the floor. The vast majority of falls in the bathroom start with a person’s foot coming into contact with a wet surface at an unfortunate angle. This is why, in most instances, the best item to prevent falls in the bathroom is the most underappreciated safety item in the average home: the non slip bath mats. Focusing on the floor is a good starting point for creating a safer bathroom.
Then it’s a matter of mapping out all of the steps that you have to go through in your bathroom in order to complete a successful use of the shower or toilet. That’s where you would pinpoint the wobble points for each and every action within the bathroom and then come up with a product and/or strategy that would be able to neutralize that wobble point.
Grab bars deserve their own conversation
Grab bars are very simple products to purchase and install. A number of people however have grab bars in their bathrooms that are not used. I believe that the majority of these are located in the wrong place in the bathroom and are therefore blamed for not performing the function that they were brought home to perform. Typically shower grab bars are installed diagonally across the back of the shower to act as a support for people to lean against when standing up straight in the shower. This type of grab bar is far more effective than a horizontally mounted grab bar which can only provide limited support to people within the shower.
I could add so much more here but the next category of fall prevention products for the bathroom are Grab Bars, and even more so than non-slip products, Grab Bars are installed incorrectly in the worst possible places and are then blamed for not working, rather like an umbrella that has been held backwards in the rain and then blamed for not keeping you dry. Grab Bars installed next to toilets are most effective on the side that the user generally leans to when standing up from the toilet, which can vary from person to person and even from injury to injury, or from one period of recovery to another, and also from one habitual way of doing things to another. Grab Bars in the shower are most effective when installed at a forty-five degree angle (diagonally) rather than horizontally, but that is not how most of them are installed in attempts to prevent falls of individuals in the bathroom. Products such as Grab Bars must be installed in precise locations in order for them to have any value in preventing falls.
However the best person to tell you where to put grab bars is an occupational therapist. They will come to your home and in about an hour tell you exactly where to put supports to help you to function best in your home. This could be worth more than all the grab bars in the world. It is a bit of a pain having someone come to your home and talk to you about your personal business, but it is worth it.
A quick comparison: high-impact vs. low-impact upgrades
| Product | Difficulty to install/use | Safety impact | Best for |
| Non-slip mat | None | High | Everyone |
| Shower chair or stool | Minimal | Very high | Fatigue, balance issues |
| Raised toilet seat | Easy | Very high | Hip, knee, or mobility concerns |
| Grab bars | Requires installation | Very high (when placed correctly) | Most people over 65, or post-surgery |
| Handheld showerhead | Easy swap | Moderate to high | Seated showering, caregiver assistance |
One item 9: There isn’t one product to save you all. Safely renovating your bathroom is a process of incrementally making good decisions and, sometimes, compromises along the way. The end result is far greater than the sum of the individual products you have used along the way.
Where to actually find this stuff
I wish it were easier to find products online for safety in homes for aging people in other places around the world. It is a real frustration for me that safety products are sold in pharmacies, in huge hardware stores, and in medical supply stores online. Each of these has different sizes for very similar products. And the return policies are awful. And the images of the products are poor. So buying online for someone else is a huge time-waster and is one of the worst online shopping experiences that I have found.
Finding the right bathroom safety products often requires careful research, reliable information, and a better understanding of available options before making a purchase. Many people now rely on helpful digital resources and evolving technology trends to compare products, discover practical solutions, and make more confident decisions when improving home safety.
The conversation nobody wants to have
It is sensitive and difficult to bring up the issue of bathroom safety with an aging parent or a partner who has just had an injury. There is a lot of dignity at stake here. We don’t want to talk about the fact that they have lost their independence.
However, if you frame the issue as “I want you to be safe,” it lands in a completely different way. It still brings up the conversation that you don’t want to have but it brings it up in a way that gives hope for the future and for your relationship together with this person, as opposed to declaring them unable and that’s it.
Start with the smallest items and work your way up from there. First, start with the floor. A good non-slip bath mat is the best item to start with. Next up, work on getting a good showerhead. And then let the conversation evolve naturally from there.
