【Jumpstarter 1 minute】Human Washer Limited – Safe showers for seniors
by
Startups
October 16, 2017
For Professor Neville Lee and Samuel Hui, the time spent looking after their family was a moment of inspiration.
After years of looking after their families, both Neville and Samuel were inspired to start a company that would create products and solutions catered to seniors that would help them live more independent lives.
The first product they created is the Sit & Shower. It is a fully-automatic seated bathing device that gives bathing independence and dignity to seniors, and the mobility impaired. The device allows for automatic soaping, water temperature control, warm air drying and 13 surround water jets. The system allows for self-cleaning and fits on top of a toilet bowl.
"The idea has been like sitting at my back of my mind for a long time, I personally spent some time taking care of my grandmother. Neville, my co-founder, and his girlfriend have been taking care of her dad for a long time too so we decided to create something to help seniors," said Samuel.
Fundamentally, Sit & Shower allows seniors to regain more independence by allowing them to shower by themselves. The Sit & Shower is a safe bathing device that helps seniors with their balance and gives them confidence. It also alleviates worries of caretakers as many seniors tend to fall in the shower leading to serious injuries.
"Bathing is such a troublesome thing for seniors and those who are mobility impaired. A lot of seniors end up in nursing homes because they don't have anyone to care for their needs. We want to transform the level of care for seniors everywhere, not just in bathing. We want to enable them to enjoy their sunset years to the fullest," said Samuel.
Amongst the biggest challenges facing the company, the lack of knowledge and understanding of the Sit & Shower and the aging industry was a common one. Samuel said finding affordable product liability insurance was a challenge in Hong Kong as many insurance companies did not want to insure something that they did not fully understand. However, over time, he believes this situation will resolve itself.
In the future, they hope to take their device from Hong Kong then to Singapore. They also want to partner with other companies in Europe, Japan, the United States and China in order to create more products that can automate essential routines in a senior's day.
"An aging population is an issue in many developed countries. For a small company like us, we can’t tackle it all, we are speaking with different international partners to bring our device and ideas to the world," Samuel said.
After years of looking after their families, both Neville and Samuel were inspired to start a company that would create products and solutions catered to seniors that would help them live more independent lives.
Amongst the biggest challenges facing the company, the lack of knowledge and understanding of the Sit & Shower and the aging industry was a common one. Samuel said finding affordable product liability insurance was a challenge in Hong Kong as many insurance companies did not want to insure something that they did not fully understand. However, over time, he believes this situation will resolve itself.
