Safety for Seniors whilst Travelling

From the President

Recently I took a short holiday along the Great Ocean Road in South Australia and Victoria which involved staying in three motels, dining in a number of restaurants and hotels and visiting many tourist attractions. The accommodation and eateries were mostly above average and many of the tourist attractions were quite spectacular. However, there was one downside common to 90% of these places. Facilities specific for aged persons were largely absent.

The motels had slippery tiled floor bathrooms including shower alcoves. There was total absence of grab rails in bathrooms and toilets. The few exceptions were recently built or refurbished tourist attractions i.e. they had toilets designed for the disabled. If you were silly enough to use the toilet for “normal” people then you again faced the slippery floors and absence of grab bars/rails. I went to Google and used my email to enquire the situation in other accommodation and found that my small sample’s lack of facilities was quite common.

I also observed on my holiday that the largest group of persons at my accommodation, eateries and tourist attractions, apart from Chinese tourists, were the aged/ retirees/wrinklies.