Why Accessible Bathroom Adaptations Matter More Than Ever
Real residents, real research and what's on our own doorstep here in Wigan, all telling us the same thing about accessible bathroom adaptations
You can learn a lot by sitting down with the people whose homes you're trying to help, and looking properly at what's right there on their own doorstep. That was the biggest thing we took away from a recent Resident Engagement Day with Housing 21, and honestly, it was a privilege to be part of it.
Feels like the right week to say it too. Falls Prevention Awareness Week's just been and gone, new research is showing just how much housing conditions affect someone's risk of falling, and International Day of Older People on 1 October is asking us all the same question this year. What's on your doorstep?
For us at PROCare, it all comes back to one simple thing we believe with our whole hearts. A better home helps someone stay safe, independent, and themselves, for longer.
Resident choice is at the heart of accessible bathroom adaptations
Housing 21 puts residents right at the centre of how it shapes its services, giving people a genuine say in what's working for them and what isn't. We think that's exactly how it should be, and it's a big part of why we enjoy working with them.
The Resident Engagement Day brought that spirit straight into the bathroom. We brought along a range these residents will come across as part of their adaptation or bathroom programme:
Choice matters to us because we know accessible doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. Every person walking through that door has their own story and their own needs.
One resident just wants better grip underfoot. Another needs somewhere secure to sit in the shower. Someone else could really do with a wash and dry toilet or a bit of discreet support, but still wants their bathroom to feel like theirs, warm and ordinary, not clinical.
When you show people the options and really listen, they get a proper say in what goes into their own home.
The link between housing and falls is one we take to heart
New research using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing has looked closely at how poor housing conditions affect falls among older people, and it's hard reading.
Older people living with electrical or plumbing problems were 11% more likely to fall. Lack of space bumped that risk up by 3%. Poor lighting and electrical or plumbing issues were also linked to falls serious enough to need medical treatment.
Falls among older people in poor quality housing cost around £1.2 billion a year in healthcare and formal care. But there's hope in the numbers too, the research suggests home adaptations and repairs could cut that by around 23%.
That's not to say a grab rail fixes everything. Falls prevention is bigger than housing, it's strength, balance, medication, eyesight and so much more. But the home is clearly part of the picture, and it's a part we can do something about. The World Health Organization includes home assessment and tailored changes, grab rails, non slip surfaces, better lighting, among its recommended steps for people at greater risk of falling.
For housing providers, that makes accessible bathroom adaptations part of genuine prevention and care, not just something that happens after somebody's already had a fall and everyone wishes they'd acted sooner.
Earlier action, right here on our own doorstep in Wigan
This year's Falls Prevention Awareness Week ran 21 to 25 September, with the theme From Awareness to Action, practical steps to help people stay active, independent and safe at home.
There's a lovely example happening on our own doorstep.
The Greater Manchester eFalls pilot in South Wigan and Ashton North is testing a more proactive, caring approach. Instead of waiting for a fall and reacting afterwards, it uses digital case finding alongside real community support to spot older people at greater risk, earlier, while there's still time to help.
That thinking sits right alongside our own Fit For Our Future campaign.
Fit For Our Future is about getting homes and services ready earlier, so nobody has to reach crisis point before somebody notices. Future ready homes, delivery excellence, smarter asset management, independent living and housing readiness, all working together for the person at the centre of it.
The bathroom's a good example of what that looks like in practice. If a provider already knows someone's mobility is changing, there's a real opportunity to sort the flooring, add some support, rethink the shower area, or choose products that'll still work if things change further down the line. Planning ahead, out of care rather than crisis.
It's so much easier, and kinder, to have that conversation early, rather than after a fall or a rushed hospital discharge.
Housing has a part to play in looking after people well
This same thinking runs through the wider direction being taken across Greater Manchester. The Live Well in Later Life programme is all about helping older residents get practical, everyday support close to home, and making sure older people themselves have a voice in deciding what their communities need. Andy Burnham has publicly backed that approach as part of Greater Manchester's work on ageing in place and prevention.
Housing needs a proper seat at that table, and we're proud to be part of that conversation... Someone can have brilliant health or social care support, but if they still can't get safely into their shower or use the toilet on their own, their home is still the thing holding them back.
That's why housing, occupational therapy, health, social care, residents, contractors and specialist suppliers like us all need to keep pulling together.
Making the right adaptation easier to deliver, with care every step of the way
Resident choice matters enormously, but somebody still must turn that choice into a spec that works in the real property, with all its quirks.
After 25 years in adaptations, we know bathrooms rarely turn up as neat, empty rectangles. There's awkward drainage, narrow rooms, uneven walls, different floor builds, and residents whose needs can shift while the job's still being planned. We've seen it all, and we still care about getting every single one right, which is exactly what working closely with a partner like Housing 21 lets us do.
Our role is to make those tricky adaptations that little bit easier, for the teams doing the work and the people living in the home.
We work closely with Housing 21 and other housing associations, local authorities, OTs and contractors on surveying, product selection, CAD drawings, specifications, specialist manufacturing, stockholding and national supply.
That could mean a level access wetroom and the right flooring, a made to measure shower door, accessible sanitaryware, an adapted kitchen, a wash and dry toilet, or something more discreet from our Invisible Creations range.
The starting point is always the same and always will be. The person, the property, and what will genuinel help them live well.
What's on your doorstep
International Day of Older People falls on 1 October, and this year's UK theme is a simple, brilliant question. What's on your doorstep?
It's asking exactly what we've been asking ourselves. What does your own community actually offer older people, and what's still missing right on their front step?
For us, that question doesn't feel abstract at all. It's the eFalls pilot testing new ways to spot risk early, right here in South Wigan and Ashton North. It's a Resident Engagement Day where people could see, touch and choose from products that might end up in their own bathroom. It's the conversations we have every week with housing teams, OTs and residents about what's actually stopping someone getting on safely in their own home.
Which is exactly why resident engagement matters so much to us, and why we value the partnership with Housing 21 so highly. It's not just about adapting somebody's bathroom once their needs have already changed. It's about asking what's on their doorstep already, what's missing, what would make them feel safer, and what they'd genuinely be comfortable using, with compassion, well before it's urgent.
Our day with Housing 21 was just one small part of that much bigger job, but it reminded us exactly why we do this, and why partnerships like this one matter so much.
That's what Fit For Our Future looks like in practice, and it's what PROCare and Housing 21 will keep striving for, together. Listen earlier. Plan better. Build homes that give people more choice, more independence, and more confidence for the years ahead.
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