It starts in grade school and progressively gets worse though the remaining years of school and for many, well into their adult lives.  What am I talking about?  The making fun and mocking of overweight people.  The overweight individual is an easy target.  There really isn’t a “politically correct” stance against abuse, either verbal or physical, for overweight people like there is when ignorance and violence is aimed at people of a different race, with different socio-economic origins, sexual orientation or different religious or political beliefs.

It seems that when people are overweight that it is considered to be their own fault, that all they have to do is to stop eating so much food and exercise more, and for all intents and purposes, this may be true.  Yet, the reasons for people eating too much food, unhealthy food, having bad eating habits or not enough exercise is multifold.  Many times the end result, being overweight, is an accumulation of either social, psychological, or physical situations or problems within an individual’s life.

In the case of dangerously obese individuals, the ones who are at a point where their life choices are severely limited due to their physical mass, this obesity is more often a physical and/or a severe psychological problem.  Similar to problems such as sickle cell anemia or severe depression, both of which are not laughing matters, extreme obesity is also a personal and life threatening human problem.

In the United States the bariatric population is ever growing, starting off with more and more overweight parents raising more and more overweight or obese children.  As people become bigger and unhealthier, the demands increase for products and solutions that help care for the growing bariatric population.  Daily, commonplace activities for the greatly obese individual become a chore and at times impossible to accomplish by themselves, leading to the need of a caregiver.  Rehabmart can help with bariatric therapies and hygiene with the many bariatric products they have to offer, the following two are specifically to assist the large individual with his or her hygiene.

The Bariatric Reclining Shower Commode Chair is a battery-operated shower chair designed to provide support and comfort during showers for individuals weighing up to 715 pounds.  This one chair can transport a bariatric individual from a bed directly into the privacy of a clinic-based central showering area.  Once put into the Shower Commode Tilt, the individual can start the shower process and be tilted in a comfortable and optimal position for a shampoo and rinse.  With the 32 degree tilt, extra-wide commode seat (with detachable pail) and openings in the front and back of the chair, the caregiver is able to thoroughly wash the bariatric individual.

Once completed with the shower and other bathroom hygienics, the caregiver can transport the individual back to bed or another area without any other needed transfers, therefore decreasing the injury risks to both the bariatric individual and the caregiver.  The Bariatric Reclining Shower Commode Chair comes with leg supports which will help reduce the stress on the person’s upper legs and thighs and can also help accommodate amputations.  Please view the video for a better understanding on the workings of the Bariatric Reclining Shower Commode Chair.

The Rise and Recline Shower Chair is one of the most versatile bariatric shower chairs offered by Rehabmart.  This battery-operated chair can tilt back to shampoo and rinse the individual, keeping excess rinse water out of the face as well as reducing the pressure on the lungs by distributing the body mass of a person’s weight up to 715 pounds.  The Rise and Recline Shower Chair can be raised up from 18 inches to 40 inches to help facilitate positions for the caregiver to better assist in the cleaning and hygiene of the bariatric individual.  This will help streamline the bathroom routines, offering a quicker, more comfortable and thorough shower experience.

This shower chair is available with or without some factory-installed accessories such as calf supports, butterfly arms, and a headrest.  Coming with battery-powered height adjustments, the chair also has 5 inch non-rusting and lockable casters to keep it safely in place during the showering time.  Please watch the video of the Rise and Recline Shower Chair for a better understanding on the workings of the chair.

Being overweight can certainly take its toll in the long-term physically of the individual but being obese can alter a lifestyle dramatically and dangerously.  A simple thing like taking a shower can become a problem or even impossible for some people and it is time for others to help rather than to hurt in these times of need.  Everyone is different and everyone has their own problems and sometimes we all just need a person with a big heart and the proper tools to lend a helping hand to overcome these problems and feel better about ourselves.

Bill Stock
Executive Editor,
Content & Social Media Services
and
Hulet Smith, OT
Rehabmart Team Leader & CEO