BATH-OUT: Extended Follow-up
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Bathing Adaptations in the Homes of Older Adults: Extended follow-up of the BATH-OUT-1 participants
IRAS ID
256238
Contact name
Phillip Whitehead
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Northumbria University at Newcastle
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Bathing Adaptations in the Homes of Older Adults (BATH-OUT-1) was funded by NIHR School for Social Care Research. The project was a feasibility Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) with nested qualitative interview study. Sixty older adults were recruited and randomised to expedited bathing adaptations or routine bathing adaptations. Twenty-one of the older adults in BATH-OUT and five of their carers were purposively sampled and took part in the nested qualitative interview study. We interviewed them within four weeks of their bathing adaptation (accessible or level access shower) being installed. Interviews explored the difficulties they were having before the adaptations were installed, their experience of the adaptations process, and the subsequent impact of the adaptations. Findings were that the removal of the physical barriers in the bathroom led to older adults having an improved sense of physical functioning. This impacted a range of areas and contributed to an increased sense of confidence and quality of life. Older adults and carers believed that the increased ease of use of the bathing adaptations led to a range of improvements in outcomes which enhanced quality of life. Mastery of bathing appeared to impact other aspects of life.
Although the qualitative literature on housing adaptations is overwhelmingly positive, there is a paucity of longitudinal evidence and lived-experiences in the medium to longer term.
This extended follow-up study will re-interview the BATH-OUT participants about their lived-experience now they are 12-18 months on from their bathing adaptation. Interviews will explore the impact of the adaptations (discussed in the previous interview), whether or how things have changed in the subsequent year, and identify facilitators and barriers to the long-term use of bathing adaptations by older adults. Participants will also complete the battery of quantitative outcome measures which were gathered across four time-points during the feasibility RCT. We will also gather data on their health and social care resource use which will provide longer-term data to feed into the economic model we plan to build in BATH-OUT-2.
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/0069
Date of REC Opinion
4 Feb 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion