ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604300033
SECTION: NURSES PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SARAH COX
At the VA Medical Center in Salem there is a nurse whose concern for her patients has resulted in the design of a modular bathroom.
Mavis Ford credits her patients with the research, critical analysis and some design input. They, and Virginia Tech, along with Ford's experience in a study, ``Environmental Influences on the Behavior of Alzheimer's Patients,'' provided the expertise to pull off what is now a modular unit close to marketing success.
Ford, who has worked at the VA Medical Center for 20 years, has a B.S. and M.S.N. in nursing and specializes in gereopsychiatry. She is now the supervisor responsible for the VA Medical Center's nursing home-care unit. Ford explained that Virginia Tech had been researching design aspects of bathtubs for the elderly, and contacted the hospital's central office for assistance.
Eventually, Ford and Professor Robert Graeff of Tech's engineering department met and decided to set up a test site at the hospital.
``We wanted a bathroom that would facilitate [our patients'] functional independence, provide privacy and be accessible to people with disabilities. The intent was to have a facility that would be adaptable to existing buildings," said Ford.
The best surprise was not the success of the project - there are now four such bathroom units in the newly designed clinic - but that the patients were the most important link of all.
``One of our patients was an engineer," said Ford. ``Eighty five-year-olds to 100-year-olds were in our study." The patients suggested additional grab bars, door closures, the position of a mirror over the sink (it tilts, but can be positioned from side to side, also), and left or right placement of the toilet tissue roll.
A bench slides around from the commode to the shower so patients don't have to move so many times.
The shower head, which is hooked on the wall and placed lower than usual so it can be accessed from a sitting position, can be hand operated. Ford said the additional grab bars and shower seating give patients enough confidence to get in and out of the bathtub without assistance.
The bathtub seat, she said, is designed like a car seat, which makes it more comfortable and prevents patients from completely immersing themselves in the water. The bathtub also looks more like a ``normal'' bathtub, she said, which helps with patients' self esteem.
A medicine cabinet in the bathroom is recessed and pops up when open. The team now is considering adding more storage space in these bathrooms.
Perhaps best of all, the dimensions of this bathroom design have made it possible for the unit to retrofit into homes, or a closet area.
The hospital now is able to do physical and occupational rehab therapy right in the patient's room, where the bathroom is, and the patient can then transfer the skills he or she has learned to his or her home environment.
``I think it will help patients to stay in their homes longer," said Ford.
She added that patients benefit psychologically from doing so. Dignity and self-esteem, she said, are important factors in the recovery process. ``In the future, most health care facilities will need to look at the needs of the individual in their homes," she said.
Other health care facilities already are looking at the innovative bathroom. A VA hospital in Chicago and one in Baltimore have sent representatives to Salem to examine the unit, said Ford.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: TIM TREVILIAN. 1. Mavis Ford credits her patients withby CNBthe inspiration for a new modular bathroom. Ford has been a nurse at
the VA Medical Center in Salem for 20 years. 2. According to Mavis
Ford, the bathtub seat is designed like a car seat, which makes it
more comfortable and prevents patients from completely immersing
themselves in the water. 3. Representatives of several health care
facilities have expressed interest in the bathroom Mavis Ford helped
design.