Bergensbadet | Haukeland University Hospital – Bergen, Norway

The innovation project “The hospital bathroom of the future” – also known as Bergensbadet – was Bano’s first collaboration project. We collaborated with Haukeland University Hospital in Norway to develop a bathroom solution for patients that could decrease the need for assistance while also enhancing safety and comfort for both patients and caregivers.

The hospital bathroom of the future

For people with reduced mobility, most accidents at home happens in the bathroom. It is also where caregivers face the most strain in their daily work. Bathrooms often lack gripping opportunities, with numerous unstable points such as sinks, weak shower bars, and wet floors. This makes bathroom visits risky.

With this in mind, Helse Bergen and Innovest – a company promoting research and business development in western Norway, supported by Innovation Norway and the Research Council – joined forces to develop the hospital bathroom of the future. The result was the Bano Concept/Bergensbadet.

The aim was to address the following challenges:

• Provide patients with increased independence
• Enhance patient dignity
• Reduce fall injuries for patients
• Reduce strain injuries for caregivers
• Cost-savings
• Bathroom solutions fit for smaller spaces

Cost-savings

Building smaller bathrooms naturally lowers the costs, but costs are also reduced as staff experience less sick leave due to fewer strain injuries.

With Bano/Bergensbadet, it became possible to build hospital bathrooms with excellent functionality in spaces as small as four-square meters. This addresses a widespread problem where space is limited in hospitals and nursing homes.

Smaller bathrooms result in fewer transfers. Accidents and strain injuries among caregivers often occur during transfers, so by reducing the number of transfers, you naturally reduce the number of injuries. Would you like to read more extensively about how the Bano Concept contributes to reducing the number of transfers in the bathroom? Read more about it here.

Increased well-being and lower sick leave

In the bathroom, care staff must often perform heavy lifts, work in challenging positions, and twist to assist patients with daily tasks. By installing Bano/Bergensbadet in hospitals, nursing homes, and institutions, the well-being of employees was improved, as they experienced an easier and more comfortable workday with less strain. As job satisfaction increases, absence and turnover decrease, leading to cost-savings and benefits for patients, staff and hospitals alike.

Maintaining dignity and independence

For individuals with reduced mobility, using the toilet or showering without assistance can be challenging.

Bano/Bergensbadet enables patients to manage with less assistance. Patients in wheelchairs can easily access the toilet by turning the toilet as needed and lowering the toilet, allowing them to move “downhill” when they transfer. Combined with a sink with a lift and lower function, multiple gripping options, and the opportunity to sit on the toilet seat and shower simultaneously, the need for assistance is reduced. To be able to use the bathroom in privacy and without assistance naturally provides individuals with increased independence and dignity.

Also available in private homes

Over time, the solutions that were developed in this project have also become available in private homes and personal use – not just in hospitals and institutions. This enables more individuals to stay at home longer as they age or after experiencing reduced functional ability. It gives people the opportunity to maintain their independence and the lifestyle they are accustomed to, as much as possible.

Would you like to learn more about the possibilities of the Bano concept in private homes? Get in touch with Bano Life or read more on their website. We look forward to hearing from you!