Once you have received the information and recommendations from your home assessment, you can begin to think about your short- and long-term options. What are the simple things you can do now to improve your home’s safety and accessibility? What might be your best options for when your mobility is more limited? 

If you are having trouble scrubbing, reaching down, or cleaning certain parts of your body, you can try devices like long-handled sponges, luffa sponges, or bath mitts. If it is challenging to get soap and shampoo out of their original bottles, transferring them to wall-mounted pumps may make it easier to dispense.

If you feel you need more trunk and neck support than a standard rolling shower chair can provide, a tilt-in-space shower chair with an adjustable headrest will provide greater support.

If there is enough room in your bathroom, you can roll your patient (Hoyer) lift into the shower and take your shower while hanging in a mesh sling.

If you have a feeding tube, you can shower with it uncovered within one to two days after it is placed. Water and soap can gently run over the tube, but do not let the water stream spray directly onto the tube or tube site. When done, gently pat everything dry, especially under the bumper.

If you have a tracheotomy and can tolerate being off the ventilator for the time it takes to bathe, you can use a handheld shower to direct water away from your trach site, which must not get wet. There are commercially available shower shields to help keep the trach site dry. You can then carefully wash your neck once you’re out of the shower. If you need to stay connected to your ventilator, you will need to use an alternate bathing method like getting a sponge bath because you cannot get the ventilator or electrical cords wet.

If you feel that bathing every day is too exhausting or too time-consuming, you could choose to save the time and energy by bathing less often.