As persons grow older, they require assistance even for normal daily functions, especially in places like bathrooms and toilets. Elderly people can do with such assistance in the form of grab bars that can add an additional safety feature if they are installed in tubs, showers and near toilets. This can help the disabled or elderly person to hold on to such bars, while maneuvering about this space.
It can help if such Allen grab bars comply with the standards laid down by the ADA or Americans with Disabilities Act. This act specifies the requirements of such safety equipment for the disabled or those whose movements are restricted. Grab bars can also be of a lot of use to people who have problems with their weight and such bariatric grab bars may require special fixing arrangements because they will normally be subject to higher loads and stresses.
Allen grab bars are normally made of stainless steel as they will never deteriorate even in the constantly damp conditions in which grab bars are installed. ADA specifies even the flanges and mountings needed to fix the bars. The bars are generally a single structural unit formed by heliarc welding so that there is never a fear of them getting loose from the flange. The fixing of these bars has to be firm and fixed to a proper structural element that itself can be relied on to take the weights and stresses that the bars will be subject to. This becomes especially important where the walls of a bathroom are made of board and not of brick and mortar. In such cases, the grab bars have to be fixed to the structural elements holding the board and not on the board. This may require some problems for a handyman doing such fixing. It is best to let competent handymen like from Mr Handyman undertake such fixing, as they will have the proper devices to locate the studs which hold the board to the structure. In fact, wherever the household consists of only the elderly, the services of such handyman can give a lot of comfort to the other members of the family who are concerned with the welfare of their elderly relatives.
Grab bars can help to relieve the strain on family members and care givers for disabled or elderly persons. They also help the persons themselves to get a lot of confidence in being able to maneuver themselves easily while they go about their daily ablutions. Grab bars can be of different shapes and sizes and it is recommended, that before you decide to install these, it is best to take the users of such bars into confidence, to see whether these can be suitable. The positioning, direction and height has to be convenient to the user, as only then will they be used properly and prove to be useful.
The proper use of Allen grab bars and other devices to help the handicapped or elderly can help to plan a space properly. They must be in addition to things like wider doorways for wheelchairs, zero thresholds to preclude the danger of tripping over them, clearance to turnaround wheelchairs and positioning faucets, cabinets and lights to suit the disabled person.
