Have you or an older person you know ever struggled with getting washed or found bathing difficult? 


Are you a social care professional who works with older adults with bathing difficulties and have noticed points that could be improved in your local authority's pathway? 


If so, keep watching to find out more about EQUIP-IN.


EQUIP-IN is a research programme focusing on the process that older adults go through to receive equipment and minor adaptations from their local authority to help with bathing difficulties. This process is called the pathway. Through this programme, we want to identify how the pathway could be made simpler and reduce differences between services in England. 


We also want to improve our understanding about:
* how usable the equipment and adaptations are 
* how they help older adults maintain their independence 
* if they reduce the need for other health and social care services and the impact of waiting times on outcomes. 


There are 5 work packages which make up the EQUIP-IN programme. We will combine the findings from all work packages to make suggestions about possible changes to the pathway. This video focuses on Work Packages 1 to 3.


But hold on, what do we mean by equipment and minor adaptations for bathing? 


We are simply referring to the bath step you might have to help you get in and out of the shower or bath and the shower chair that gives you a safe place to sit so you don't get as tired whilst showering. Or maybe you have a perching stool that you sit on to have a wash at the sink rather than getting tired standing. What about grab rails in the bathroom to help you safely move around and make sitting to standing easier? You could have a combination of these or others we haven't mentioned but equipment and adaptations is the umbrella term that we and social care professionals use. 


Whether you have bathing equipment and minor adaptations in your home or assess and provide these to the people you work with, to make improvement recommendations for the pathway, we need to hear from the people who know. This is why the EQUIP-IN research is being co-produced by our public and practitioner involvement panels. 


So, what are the ways participants are getting involved in the research?


If people have received, bought or are waiting for equipment and minor adaptations to help with bathing, we are asking them to take part in an interview or workshop. This is so we can speak to them about their experiences and the process they went through to get their equipment. Or for those who work for a local authority and assess and provide older adults with bathing equipment and adaptations, we are asking them to complete our anonymous mapping survey, take part in a workshop or help to recruit potential participants to our prospective cohort study so we can follow people through the pathway and monitor their outcomes.


For more information and to meet the EQUIP-IN team, visit our website, email us or give us a call. To find all the ways you can connect with us in one place, use your phone to scan the QR code on the screen now. 


Thanks for watching, we hope to connect with you soon!