Evaluation of aids and equipment for the bath: II. A possible solution to the problem

One hundred patients needing bath aids is leaving Leeds hospitals in 1978 were randomly allocated into control and treated groups. The former 50 patients received aids through the usual channels, the latter obtained bath aids immediately on discharge and were instructed in their use at home by the peripatetic occupational therapist. All were assessed independently at three to six months. Prompt, correct prescription of aids and supervision of their use in bathing shortly after discharge by a hospital-based occupational therapist resulted in safe bathing by all treated subjects. In contrast, only 82% of controls bathed, 50% of these from the seated position (compared with 90% of the treated group) and only 39% of controls received their aids within two weeks of discharge (compared with 74% of the treated group).