www.incontinentsupport.org

I'm working on a project that includes a family/ assisted needs restroom. Who has used them to either change yourself or someone else?

What features did it have?

What was good and bad about it?

Was it a single occupant toilet room?

Did it have an adult size changing table. If so was it a manufactured table or was it built-in. Please describe it. Were there grab bars positioned around the changing table to disabled people?

How did you dispose of your diapers? Was there a large trash can?

Thanks.

I can't Believe I am going to bite on this one but here it goes. The single most important feature on these rooms is(wait for it.....wait for it.....) a lock!. The family rest rooms are a room with a lockable door with toilet, sink and trash. Only thing it is missing to be a full out right bathroom is a shower and tub. Of course they have baby sized changing tables and of course they DO NOT have adult sized changing tables. The only world where an adult sized changing table would exist would be the the fetish world but surely here, on a forum for medically incontinent people with no desire to talk or hear about the fetish world, surely here, those people would respect those boundaries and keep those fetish questions on fetish websites and forums.(which are in abounent supply)

Oh, almost forgot, as for a trash can large enough for a adult diaper, again, of course they have a trash can big enough. Adult diapers are not so large they need a 50 gal drum. (At least in the real world.) But I can assume if someone wanted to wear a diaper that required a can of ridiculous size they could but IMHO only someone wearing for fun and getting there jollies off at the public's expense would do that. If that were the case, I would tell them to go away and take that crap somewhere else. but those are just my thoughts.

Okay, I'll weigh in here too.

If you're looking to offer the most amenities you can, for a private geriatric medical facility or other non-public space, a moistened wipes dispenser would be a nice touch, as would clothing hooks. On occasion, I need to change a pull-up, which requires that I remove my pants. Having a place to hang them would be nice.

That's about it. When I need to change a full-on diaper, I do it standing up, so I'm with Rope. I would have no use for a changing table.

-RMS

Ok I appreciate your comments. I will add the hooks and see if the owner will go for the wipe/towels that were mentioned. Can you elaborate on the door locks. How did they work. This is a tricking thing. Since this a stand alone building I concerned that someone will lock themselves inside.

I think the one person posting about some other type of users misunderstands the reason for it. By code the facility has to be handicapped accessible. My dad before he passed away for example have become incontinent and his wife had a particularly difficult time changing him in restrooms because he couldn't stand for more than a few minutes and was unstable, hence the need for a table/counter. And just for the record a large horizontal changing table is included in many if the family/assisted needs restrooms in New England that I've seen. The owner is trying to ensure that all people can equally use this public use facility.

Best advice to you and the owner would be build it to code. Have the contractor build it the way it needs to be built in your area and that will be just fine. No one is required by law to make a adult sized changing table. This is crazy. If the person is so unsteady as to not stand for more then a minute or two then they can't be up and walking around. They will be in a wheelchair and it would be better for them to be changed in a seated position.
If there are publc rest areas with changing tables for adults WOW is all I have to say. That is one of the most over the top things I have ever heard. I have been all over the east coast of the US and to multipal other places not to mention international airports and have never see one. To be honest the thought of one sound rather unsanitary to me. God only knows what and who has been on it.

Here is something no one has mentioned. I especially like a paper towel dispenser and NOT an air blower because I like to have a 'small bath-mat of perhaps three paper towels' to stand on when I am changing myself and don't particularly want to stand on the floor.

Certainly hooks to hang clothing on .. door locks that can be opened by a janitor are available so no worry there .. a small fold-down changing table (in all of my years dealing with this I HAVE NEVER EVER SEEN A FULL SIZED CHANGING TABLE!!) to put your fresh diapers and associated necessaries like waterproof overpants etc on is also really nice .. as are fully functional sinks with warm running water.

I THANK THE ALMIGHTY CREATOR for our having handicapped rest rooms!

I've seen a lot of accessible public restrooms, and I've never seen an adult sized changing table either, nor would I use one. Many years of experience, personally and professionally, in the disability community, and I don't think I have ever heard anyone ask for one, either independent adults with disabilities or those who have personal assistants (caregivers). I suppose a small minority *might,* but in my experience, most adults, even very physically dependent ones, who had any awareness and any say in their own care would find it undignified, unsanitary and unsafe to be lifted and balanced at some height off the ground in a strange place of unknown cleanliness.

That said, I appreciate accessible restrooms, especially ones that, as with any public restroom, have a working lock, are clean and well stocked with toilet paper, soap, paper towels, even if there is a hot air blower-- one might need to wipe off the sink or have spilled something out in the car, or be out of plastic bags to dispose of one's diapers/pads/feminine products discreetly. Hooks for clothing and purses/briefcases/other bags, etc.

As a female, I don't know if men usually find that they don't have trash cans available. In ladies' rooms, we usually have them in the room and/or receptacles for used feminine products in each stall, usually big enough for incontinence products as well. I suppose, along with that, there is an assumption that many women will be disposing of baby stuff as well. I've only had an issue occasionally with no trash can in a unisex restroom.

A shelf or two near the toilet is also very helpful. Lately, one of the public places I frequent, in a move to make more restrooms accessible, has gone to autoflush, tankless toilets, auto-faucets, auto-hand dryers, but of course, those tend to auto-activate when not wanted and not necessarily activate when wanted. I've been in the situation of having no place to put down clean supplies momentarily except the edge of the sink, and then the faucet starts spraying...

i for one am not steady on my feet and changeing in my chair is not possable for all the seating forums thus a changeing table is needed for me no i dont like it but sometimes it is better than waiting to get back to the home i live in

I strongly recommend a medium size shelf near the toilet, and another near the sink, plus a hook within reach of the toilet (in addition to hooks on the door.

As I am double incontinent, a shelf is very useful as a place to lay out wipes, barrier cream, diaper disposal bags, etc.

I'm going to come in from a purely philosophical standpoint.

I'm a bedwetter only, so I don't have a need for this type of amenity at this time, but when I was looking for information on making adult sized cloth diapers I spent some time browsing caregiver forums. It was worth noting, that more than once, I ran across posts of parents of significantly disabled older children or teens, lamenting the fact that their children had outgrown the available changing tables and that they had to sometimes lay they on the dirty floor. I think that in most of those cases that child was profoundly mentally disabled, and not probably would not have been ashamed of being put on an "adult changing table".

I can see were an even remotely able bodied adult would not be interested, but I can't see how the addition of a long, low counter, easily sanitized, would be an unwelcome addition for anyone.