- When it comes to purchasing a walk in bathtub many people find the cost prohibitive. Those people who most likely need such a bathtub are seniors or those with disabilities who are on fixed incomes. So what is one to do?
Here are a number of possible Canadian and US resources that can help you if you need financial assistance when purchasing a walk in bathtub.
CANADIAN RESOURCES
You may be able to claim the walk in bath as a medical expense on your personal income tax. Your doctor will need to indicate that you need a walk in bathtub. The Disability Tax Credit Form T2201E is available as a pdf document.
•In January 2009, the Canadian government intoduced the Home Renovation Tax Credit on work performed or goods acquired in the process of home renovations. The purchase and installation of Safety Bath products can be used for the HRTC. More information on the Home Renovation Tax Credit is available here.
•The Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program (RRAP) for Persons with Disabilities offers financial assistance to homeowners and landlords to undertake accessibility work to modify dwellings occupied or intended for occupancy by low-income persons with disabilities.
•If you are a Veteran, Canadian Veterans Independence Services may be able to assist you with home adaptations to modify things like bathrooms, kitchens and doorways
•Investigate your personal health insurance plan
US RESOURCES
•USDA-Rural Development Housing & Community Facilities Programs The Single-Family Housing Program provides homeownership opportunities to low and moderate-income rural Americans through several loan, grant, and guarantee programs. The program also makes funding available to individuals to finance vital improvements necessary to make their homes decent, safe, and sanitary.
•US Department of Housing and Urban Development - Reverse mortgages for Seniors
•The National Home Modification Action Coalition - Home Modification Resources
•Coverage may be available through Medicare or Medicaid
•Senior Health Care Advocates of America has great information regarding discounts for hydrotherapy bathtubs. Qualified applicants must be a senior or disabled person with age related health issues.
•Deductibility of Certain Capital Expenditures to Personal Residence as Deductible Medical Expense
•Investigate your personal health care insurance plan
With so many options on the accessible bathtub market how does one know what to look for in a walk in bathtub?
Thursday, July 23, 2009
How to Find Financial Assistance for your Walk in Bathtub Purchase
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Are You Doing Your Best to Keep Her Smiling?
Mary lives in a nursing home/long term care facility. Each day she is assisted to some degree in her daily activities by helpful and kind staff, and she is for the most part happy with her life in this new environment. She usually has a smile on her face. Twice a week Mary has a bath. Although she is ambulatory with the aid of her walker, she cannot step into a regular bathtub so the only option open to her is to be placed in a lift and raised into the air and then lowered into a special bathtub. These are the worst times of the week for Mary. While her bath should be relaxing, comfortable and enjoyable, Mary feels degraded and frightened by the lift. At those times, Mary’s smile is gone; so is her dignity.
Since 1992, Safety Bath Inc., a small Canadian company, has been progressively dedicated to making life better for people like Mary. In that year, owner and inventor, Ladimer Kowalchuk, began a search for a bathtub that would permit his father, a large man of over 300 lbs with very bad knees, to enjoy a safe bath. Finding no suitable products on the market, Ladimer invented a walk in bathtub that would make bathing safe, easy and dignified for his dad. In time, the bathtub made to help one man, was helping thousands across North America.
Bathing Independence for Everyone
Ladimer recognized that there were other groups of people who needed to remain independent…there were baby boomers who wanted to age in place; and what about those in long term care facilities who, like Mary, had some ambulatory ability and for the sake of convenience were being lifted into a bathtub….what about their dignity? Believing that there was need for such a bathtub in facilities where a more homelike, less threatening environment was the trend, the Safety Bath Supreme was designed to fill the gap between a regular household bathtub and an institutional lift tub.
The Bathtub for Long Term Care Facilities
Special features were incorporated into the Supreme to make it suitable for use in long term facilities where multiple users access the same bathtub, including the implementation of a hygienic San-Air Whirlpool system and a built in disinfection system. The Supreme walk in bathtub was designed with people like Mary in mind, but its benefits are evident for the caregiver and the facility as well.
For the Client
• Easy access for the client, promotes, rather than thwarts, independence
• Provides a safe, comfortable, friendly environment.
• Multiple jets provide therapeutic relief and promote relaxation
• Clients love the privacy provided by the height of the tub which obscures the caregiver's line of sight
For the Care-Giver
• Significantly lowers the risk of caregiver related injuries
• Clients as well as all operating components are within easy reach at all times
• Outward swing door makes emergency access possible
• Minimal or no lifting at all required if the client is ambulatory
For the Facility
• Reduced drain and fill time as opposed to institutional lift tubs, allowing more baths per day per unit.
• Requires very little space
• Environmentally friendly, uses 50% less water than a lift tub
• Economically viable - is less expensive than a lift tub and uses less sanitizing chemical in operation
• Ability to use an optional lift provides versatility and adaptability to changing needs
The Supreme is part of a very successful line of quality walk in bathtubs, designed by Safety Bath Inc. to make bathing a relaxing and pleasant experience for thousands who have mobility limitations.
Learn more about accessible bathtub products for long term care from Safety Bath Inc., by visiting http://www.safetybathsupreme.com or calling 877 826 6666
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