Since 2017,. MediStays has provided nationwide service connecting Australians and their families with the best accommodation option to support a hospital visit or disability-related stay.
Here Theratrak Founder and Occupational Therapist Laura Simmons comments on the impact of travel on individuals with disabilities and the importance of accessible bathrooms in accommodation settings.
Laura’s key points include:
Travel challenges and cognitive load
Importance of familiarity for accessibility ensuring safety, dignity, and privacy
Accessibility features like wheelchair-accessibility, ergonomically placed handrails, sufficient circulation space for carers, and height-adjusted vanities to accommodate the wider dimensions of a wheelchair.
Meeting individual needs
Excerpt from the MediStays article:
MediStays’ individualised approach to accommodation with accessible bathrooms
Patients living with a physical disability, who are frail, or have undergone an operation often require accommodation with accessible bathrooms that support physical accessibility.
At MediStays, we firmly believe that safe and and accessible bathrooms, including toilet and shower facilities is a foundational human right.
Unfortunately, accessible bathroom designs are not the norm in Australia. For people with specific access needs, standard designs of toilets, showers and basins are often not fit-for-purpose.
Accessible bathrooms make it easier for both loved ones and formal carers (such as visiting nursing staff) to assist with hygiene routines.
Whereas, standard (non-accessible) bathrooms need extra time, equipment and support people in order to be used safely. This is an added burden to patients and their carers in multiple ways, especially when travelling long distances from rural and regional Australia. We spoke to Laura Simmons, a passionate occupational therapist as well as the CEO and Founder of Theratrak, an app supporting allied health professionals and their clients’ therapy. Laura works with families who have children living with a range of disabilities, providing them with early intervention treatments. In regards to how travel can exacerbate existing disability needs, Laura said: “Travel means you are not in your home environment. It adds to the learning load for a person. They have to remember where certain things are, how different taps work or if there are different ‘tricks’ they use in their bathroom that help them to access the environment easier. People may also have additional stresses when they are travelling, away from regular carers or just be in a different mental health state because they aren’t at home”.
