Another gem from the June 1977 issue of The Futurist, an excerpt from Stephen Rosen’s book Future Facts: The way things are going to work in the future of technology, science, medicine and life
Egg-shaped “People Washer” is an ultrasonic bath developed by the Sanyo Electric Company of Japan. The machine showers and bathes the body, cleans the skin, massages the muscles, and dries the person off.
To take a bath, the bather selects the water temperature, climbs inside the egg, and starts the machine. The machine first gives the bather a warm shower, then begins ultrasonic washing with bubbly warm water. Then the bath fills with warm water to a set level, at which point the water intake automatically shuts off and the hot water begins to whirl, cleaning the body even more thoroughly. While the water whirls, small rubber balls float around in the water, massage the skin, and relax the muscles. After seven minutes of washing and rubber-ball massage, the bath water drains from the sphere and the body is reshowered for two minutes. The shower and the ultrasonic waves cease and the water is drained out. Finally there is a dry cycle during which low moisture air circulates through the chamber. The entire cycle takes 15 minutes.
As crazy as this sounds, it looks like a version of it actually got made for taking care of elderly folks.
I don’t know about crazy. It sounds like an experience I’d like to try.
OTOH, it sounds like something that would take a lot of water. …and it doesn’t look like too attractive an object to have in the middle of a bathroom.
I have mixed feelings. If I had no choice, maybe. If an attendant is needed to aid in extricating oneself, how long might a person have to wait if the attendant were busy? Could a person hang and die in the case of passing out or a stroke while in the machine. Might the person receiving this bath be dehumanized, also. I would worry how sanitary this would be. Institutions are notorious for having at least one person who slacks off and does not do a good job.
Right now, I have not had water for ten days and only one shower, so I would take my chances just to get wet.
Have you ever read the children’s book ‘Lazy Tommy Pumpkinhead’ by William Pene Du Bois? I can see this turning into a similar situation. :^)
I looked at that contraption again. Climbing could be a problem for many elderly. Besides, climbing naked just seems like a recipe for an embarrassing disaster. It is one thing to fall, but to fall naked? And, there is the problem of dangling body parts, swaying as an elderly person lurches up the ladder. I don’t like heights, even three feet off the floor if I am naked, plus this would induce claustrophobia in me.
Now what are the states that allow assisted suicide?
I looked at that contraption again. Climbing could be a problem for many elderly. Besides, climbing naked just seems like a recipe for an embarrassing disaster. It is one thing to fall, but to fall naked? And, there is the problem of dangling body parts, swaying as an elderly person lurches up the ladder. I don’t like heights, even three feet off the floor if I am naked, plus this would induce claustrophobia in me.
Now what are the states that allow assisted suicide?
If you follow the link to the machine developed in Japan, it is not like the drawing, except in the concept of the body being immersed in water. It is a machine/tub that opens from the side, rather like a car door, and remains open at the top all the time. The elderly person is seated in a “wheelchair” and rolled into the “human washer” before their “bath”; this is similar but not quite the same as units that are available currently with side doors on a tub, for elders with mobility issues.
Presumably the attendant would remain with them while this is happening, and the machine could be sanitized between users, just as our home washing machines *can* be. As someone who has worked in nursing homes, and as an on the road bath attendant/NA in rural Idaho, I can tell you that something like this would be quite welcomed not only by the nursing aides but by the people in care – being able to actually bathe would be not only an improvement physically but also could be somewhat pleasant, compared to sponge baths.
I know when I lived in the back woods of Idaho (sans running water, so I had sponge baths at home myself too!) the first thing I did when I had a chance was take a tub bath, since while sponge baths do get you clean, they never left me *feeling* clean. Plus being able to wheel an elderly person into a “washer” would be a lot less likely to cause back damage to the carer, than lifting them in and out of a standard tub
I agree. It sounds like the one that actually got built was more of a front-loading model. 🙂
haha, the future. That people washer is a great idea!