Project 452472

Bathroom navigation is an essential skill for independent self-care. However, bathroom design components, such as slippery floors, amplify mobility challenges for older adults and those with mobility impairments. Consequently, the bathroom is the most common location of fall-related injury in the home. Many strategies have been proposed to address bathroom safety. At an individual-level, modifying one's bathroom to support safer bathing practice could reduce fall rates. However, such home modifications are often met with resistance. A better understanding of the factors influencing decisions about prioritizing safety in design and readiness to modify one's environment is needed. This information can be used to develop targeted education materials regarding bathroom design and safety. On a population level, changes to bathroom design standards is an effective way to have an impact on safety without a need to address individual behavior. One of the most important design components of the wet bathroom environment related to fall risk is the underfoot bathtub surface. Most critically, however, there is no current standard defining slip resistance of a bathtub surface and how these surface standards impact safe and hazardous bathing tasks. Understanding the effect of bathroom surfaces on bathing mobility patterns is critical to defining minimum surface design requirements and support evidence-based standard development. With a focus on aging and disability, this study aims to (1) evaluate risk of motion patterns during bathing and determine surface slip resistance requirements and (2) better understand factors that influence decisions to modify one's bathroom environment to ensure safer bathing practices. Our team will work with leading clinicians and policy makers to provide an evidence base to inform clinical education and standard development. Preventing falls through improved evidence-based environmental design is critical to support aging-in-place strategies.