Novel Bathing Assist Device Decreases the Physical Burden on Caregivers and Difficulty of Bathing Activity in Care Recipients: A Pilot Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the use of a bathing assist device, “Bath Assist” (BA), could reduce the physical burden on caregivers providing bathing assistance and also alleviate the difficulty of bathing activities for care recipients. BA is a robotic device that is attached to the bathtub. The seat can be raised and lowered using the water pressure from the shower tap. The four caregivers and four care recipients were paired one-to-one to simulate bathing activity, and the physical burden on each caregiver during bathing assistance was evaluated with and without the use of BA by observation, questionnaire, and wireless surface electromyography. For caregivers, BA transformed the task of assisting care recipients into and out of the bathtub into a monitoring activity. Additionally, the muscle activity of the caregivers’ lumbar region, trunk, and upper limbs, which are used to assist care recipients out of the bathtub, was significantly reduced when using BA. Questionnaires confirmed that the use of BA reduced the physical burden on caregivers. These results indicate that BA has the potential to reduce both the physical burden on caregivers during bathing assistance and the difficulties care recipients experience during bathing.

Keywords

• bathing care
• assistive technology
• electromyography
• physical burden
• caregiver