Health & Fitness Tools

Wheelchair Accessible Sinks Make Taking Care Of Personal Needs Simpler!

25th January, 2011 - Posted by health news - No Comments

Have you ever tried to sit down at a sink while washing your hands or observed a little kid struggle to reach faucets that are just outside of their grasp? It’s a frustrating feeling for anyone, and can be a lot more so for those who are confined to wheelchairs. Not only can’t they get to the soap dispensers and handles to operate the water, but a lot of times there isn’t sufficient space around a sink to allow them to manuever their wheelchairs into. Wheelchair accessible sinks offer these people the ability to manage their own needs, more independence, as well as better self esteem.

Most public places are mindful of the needs to incorporate handicap accessible toilets inside their bathrooms and have complied, but many never have addressed the issue of sink placement. You can observe this almost every time you enter a public washroom. How many of them have one sink that is lower in order that people in wheelchairs can get to it with less effort? I’ve been in airports, eateries, museums, rest stops, and several other public facilities, but I can’t remember ever seeing a lower sink. Drinking water fountains, yes, but not sinks.

Hygiene is as essential for the disabled as it is for folks without a disability. They don’t want to get illnesses from dirty hands, the same as everyone else. Many of them have supplies of wet wipes to help alleviate the problem. Even so, they should not have to do so. It’s not too difficult to adjust any public washroom into one that has a handicap accessible sink. For instance, there are sinks that mount on adjustable brackets for them to be elevated and lowered to accommodate the demands of every individual. Even in public restrooms that have just one sink or in the bathroom of a home, adjustable styles are small enough to put in the area of existing sinks.

Probably the most significant aspects of wheelchair accessible bathrooms is that it have plenty of free space around it to allow anyone to move their chair up to where they need it to be. Wall sinks are an excellent choice, because there is nothing below them to block passage. The trend of enclosed vanities made access difficult for the handicapped, but now we realize that it’s essential to support these people in every way we can.