Shower in a Can as an Efficient Alternative to Traditional Bed Baths in Health & Social Care

Pressures within Health & Social care is forcing us to look at alternative ways to deliver the same or similar service in a more cost and time effective manner - something that the COVID19 pandemic has magnified. The traditional bed-bath in hospitals, long-term care homes and social care are important not only for patient hygiene, but also provide an opportunity for assessment. But, they have remained much the same for decades. They are effective, but time consuming, resource heavy and therefore expensive.

Shower in a Can is an innovative water & detergent-based foam that is applied to the hands & body that does not require rinsing or toweling. It also has anti-bacterial properties. Launched in December 2018 after 18 months of development, Shower in a Can removes the need for additional water to wash, and the laundry of towels. It would also enable those patients able to, to wash themselves more easily and maintain some level of dignity, further reducing the demand on nurses and support staff.

Shower in a Can was initially designed for use in the Youth Sport Market, but has grown in popularity in the camping, festival, outdoor sports and recreational markets as an effective alternative to hand-washing and showering. Our project will undertake testing to ensure Shower in a Can's foaming soap formula is sufficiently anti-viral, and the antibacterial properties are also sufficient for the Health & Social Care environment. Results from these tests may result in tweaks to the formula to meet those requirements. Once it is proven the formula meets those requirements we will undertake all additional stability and dermatological testing before a sufficient order to fulfill requirements in the Health & Social Care sectors.

--ADDITIONAL INFORMATION HERE--

The current project allows for a small trial of 4,800 cans in a concentrated geographic area in partnership with Carer Support Wiltshire. By extending the trial by three months and doubling the number of cans to 8,000 in total for distribution we are able to extend the trial nationally through Carers Trust (which is the umbrella association that Carer Support Wiltshire is a partner of). The additional spend will enable us to engage with more partners as we look to increase the trial size and also continue funding awareness raising programme already underway for the period of extension.