Best Practices in the Design of Toileting and Bathing Facilities for Assisted Transfers

4.16.6 Dispensers.

Few of the respondents specifically addressed the issue of dispensers, even though increasing the distance between the sidewall and the toilet would suggest that locating dispensers on the sidewall within 18" of the centerline of the toilet (as specified in ADAAG) was not possible. However, Roland Binker of Ellerbe Becket, indicated that nursing staff at Memorial Hospital of Martinsville and Henry County (Martinsville, VA), felt that 24" would provide sufficient space for staff and still permit a patient to reach a wall-mounted toilet paper holder without falling off the toilet. Alternatively, Horty Elving and Associates used a toilet paper holder at the end of each swing-away grab bar (e.g., Figure 11) at Bridges Medical Services, Ada, MN (Horty, Elving & Associates, Inc.), a facility that received a Best in Category by Design ‘99 Awards sponsored by the AIA and AAHSA. A second alternative, used at Creekview at Evergreen by Tremain Nelson Partnership, was to locate a dispenser for caregiver, rather than for user convenience. As a result, the dispenser was located 24" above the floor, 5" higher than the minimum height in ADAAG, and 42" from the rear wall (Figure 13), which would have been too high and too far in front of most older users for them to reach safely.

 Figure 13. Location of Dispenser at Creekview at Evergreen, Oshkosh, WI (Nelson Tremain Partnership)