Case study: “Life-changing” accessible toilet reduces lady’s reliance on carers

A “life-changing” shower toilet solution from Geberit has given Wilma Morrison from Fife, Scotland the ability to easily clean herself without pain from arthritis, reducing reliance on carers to give back her independence and sense of dignity.

Wilma has bowel issues, as well as arthritis in her shoulders and tennis elbow. Due to this condition, she found it increasingly painful to clean herself properly, as she could not reach behind without causing additional pain in her shoulders.

This had a knock-on effect. With the continuous pain in Wilma’s shoulders limiting other aspects of her life, she frequently had to rely on the help of a carer. Wilma, who is in her 60s, cares for her adult son who has special needs, placing additional pressure on her day-to-day living needs.

An occupational therapist (OT) from Fire Council recognised that Wilma required a solution to help her better manage her personal hygiene in a pain-free way and, in turn, give her more independence.

Fife Council overhauled the existing upstairs bathroom in Wilma’s council property, fitting a full wet floor shower in place of the bath and enlisting experienced contractors Benarty Contracts to install a Geberit AquaClean Mera Care toilet.

Developed for independent living, the AquaClean Mera Care shower toilet offers Wilma an ideal solution. This innovative toilet features an oscillating spray arm that cleans at via a button with a jet of warm water and a warm air dryer, offering Wilma a hygienic and comfortable solution.

This self-cleaning solution means that Wilma no longer needs to painfully twist her shoulders around to clean herself properly, helping limit shoulder pain and improve her standard of living.

In addition to an oscillating spray and warm air dryer, the Geberit AquaClean Mera Care toilet boasts a host of additional features to aid personal hygiene and improve ease of use, including an automatic flush function via user detection, remote control, programmable user profiles for multiple users, and a continuous flow heater for constant warm water.

Geberit has taken every ounce of its 150 years of experience in helping to understand the wants and needs of its customers and put that into creating a product that can make a guaranteed difference to the way customers live day in day out.

Following the installation, Denis Harley, Geberit Area Sales Manager for AquaClean, also visited Wilma’s home to run through all the functions and cleaning advice.

Wilma said: “The workmanship was fantastic. Someone came first to talk me through it and then again a couple of weeks later to make sure I’d understood it all and show me how to clean it properly.”

Since the installation of the Geberit AquaClean Mera Cera toilet, Wilma has regained her independence and is no longer as reliant on carers for her personal hygiene.

Denis commented: “Mrs Morrison has been using the wet floor shower and toilet with great success.

“Since using the AquaClean Mera Care system, her arthritic shoulder pain has disappeared permanently as she no longer has to strain her shoulders to clean herself. This, in turn, has also allowed her to wash her hair for the first time in a long time as full shoulder movement has returned without any pain, allowing her to reach her head with her hands. She attributes this totally to having our toilet system installed.

“The positive effect this has had on her life can’t be underestimated. Wilma can attend solely to her personal care now, without having to ask a carer for help with bathing and toileting.”

Wilma concluded: “Geberit has put the ‘personal’ back into my personal care. It’s like night and day and I’ve bever been so thankful for something in my life.”