Can a wheelchair user get into a walk-in tub without help?

Many wheelchair users do get into an Ella Transfer tub on their own. Ella's accessible bathroom material states that the extra wide L-shape outward swing door on the Transfer models can allow wheelchair users to have a bath without any assistance, because the bather slides straight across onto the seat without standing. Whether that works for a particular person depends on the bather, and the sideways path itself is shown step by step in How Do You Transfer From a Wheelchair Into an Ella Walk-In Tub?. This page covers what makes an unassisted transfer possible, how to judge whether a seat fits the bather, and which Ella models are built for help instead.

What Makes an Unassisted Transfer Possible

On a conventional walk-in tub the bather steps through a door and sits. A wheelchair user usually cannot do that alone because the tub wall stands between the chair and the seat. The Transfer family removes the wall.

• The L-shape door takes the whole side of the tub with it. The family drawing prints a 172 degree opening, so the door swings well clear and leaves no sidewall beside the seat. The chair pulls up alongside, the bather drops the chair arm and slides across.
• The seat is warm acrylic, so the move is a lateral slide rather than a lowering to the floor of the tub. The Transfer 26 video on this page points out that the soft touch acrylic surface adds comfort and ease of entry, especially for a wheelchair user.
• Grab bars, a low threshold and a textured floor support the move. Deck and wall mounted grab bars give a hand hold while sliding, and the textured slip resistant floor and deck help once the legs come in over the low threshold.
• The door closes from the seat. A soft grip handle pulls the door shut and a two-latch gear and shaft lock draws it evenly onto its seal, so the bather does not need a second person to secure it.
• The winged shape fits over a toilet. The L-shaped opening allows toilet clearance of up to 21 inches in height, which is what lets the door open fully in a typical vanity, toilet, tub layout.

The second video on this page is the Transfer series overview. It shows the extra wide L-shaped door fitting over the toilet, the low threshold, the textured floor and the grab bars, and it shows the independent foot massage option that lets a bather enjoy a foot massage without filling the whole tub.

Checking That the Seat Fits the Bather

The one measurement that decides an unassisted transfer is seat width. The seat should be wider than the bather's seated hip measurement, so measure the person sitting in their chair before you compare models. The Transfer family covers a wide range.

What the figures mean: a bather whose seated hip measurement is close to 19 inches will slide onto the Transfer26 but will have little room to settle, while the 29 inch seat on the TransferXXL gives a large bather room to sit comfortably and work the door. Exterior size matters too, because the chair has to sit beside the open side of the tub, and the longer Transfer60 changes where that approach point lands in the room. Walk-in Tub Models and Sizes: Soakers, Transfer, Two-Person, and Inswing Options puts the Transfer sizes beside the rest of the lineup.

Three Paths Onto the Seat

The door decides what is physically possible, and Ella describes three ways to use it.

1. Lateral wheelchair transfer. Roll up beside the open side, drop the chair arm, slide across onto the seat, bring the legs over the low threshold into the footwell and close the door.
2. Sit and swing. A more mobile bather comes up to the tub, sits on the seat and swings the feet in.
3. Step in. With the whole side open there is room to step in and sit, as on any other Ella walk-in tub.

How a particular person should be steadied or positioned is a question for that person's physical or occupational therapist. Ella can tell you what the door allows. The therapist knows what the bather can do.

When Someone Does Need to Help

The same door that lets a bather slide across alone also gives a caregiver room to work, so a Transfer tub is not an either-or choice. If the bather cannot slide across at all, Ella offers two assisted options. The HoistAssist pairs a transfer tub with its own battery powered hoist for a bather who cannot bear weight or slide. The HomeCare is built exclusively for assisted bathing and is not a tub the bather enters alone: the bather rolls up in the chair, transfers with the caregiver's help, the caregiver moves the chair away and then closes and locks the door. Is Ella's Home Care Related to Ella's Bubbles Walk-In Tubs? explains that HomeCare is a model name rather than an outside agency, and describes a bath with a caregiver from start to finish.

Planning the Room for an Unassisted Transfer

• Leave clear floor beside the tub on the door side where the chair will sit. The L-shape door swings out into the room, so that floor has to stay clear while the door is open.
• Check the toilet position. The door is shaped to fit over a toilet, and the clearance figure above applies to toilet height.
• In a 60 inch alcove, the Transfer26 comes with an 8 inch extension panel so the 52 inch tub fills the opening.
• Decide on jets. The Transfer60 can be ordered with no jets, and What is an accessible bathtub, and who are walk-in tubs designed for? covers the therapies that can be added to an accessible tub.

Describe how the bather moves when you talk with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, including whether they can slide sideways without standing, and the team will point you to the model and layout that suit them.

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