Our Mission
ADAPTABLE
Our mission is to co-design portable adaptive showers that can be used in almost any room, while meeting the highest standards of accessibility and affordability for shower users and caregivers. We've partnered with TechTown Detroit and Wayne State University's Technical Writing initiative and Engineering program to build a startup on a design mission to co-create modular showers that are easy to set up and dismantle, with adaptive features grab bar systems, temperature sensors, and other safety and wellness features that can make each shower easily adaptable each individual in need. Real people, with diverse hygiene and healthcare needs are at the center of our design philosophy, so WAT showers can restore self-worth, safety, independence and integrity to this crucial activity of daily living.
ACCESSIBLE
We are on an human-centered design mission pushing the boundaries of A.D.A. standards. Our co-design work with WSU teams has been driven by one goal: go beyond A.D.A. standards. To do so, we've co-designed our showers from day one, and continue to do participatory design research at each step of our design process. We work with people to understand their problems and needs for a shower that would meet their needs, not just A.D.A. standards, as we believe our showers can help people achieve higher standards of caregiving and more effective hygiene that prevents physical and mental health problems. Accessibility, for us, includes access to self-worth, safety, independence and integrity in showering as a crucial activity of daily life. Our partnership with WSU pushes the boundaries of inclusive design and usability, designing our shower with caregivers, with people with limited mobility or disabilities, and with experts from different disciplines: engineering, public health, disability studies, design, the humanities, and more.
AFFORDABLE
We are a company dedicated first and foremost to intervening in a marketplace with overpriced and poorly designed adaptive and medical equipment. We don’t simply meet a market demand. Our affordable, adaptable, and accessible showers will redefine fair market value. We strive to be THE adaptable technology company. People often have few options when it comes to accessible shower solutions. Fully remodeling a bathroom to ADA standards comes at a steep cost, and can negatively impact a home's market value. Other companies offer options, and some roll-in showers, but at very high-cost and with few or now adaptive or customizable features.
We can't do it alone.
Wilson Adaptive + Tech Town
Wilson Adaptive is apart of a collaboration with Wayne State University and Tech Town to provide development support to burgeoning businesses in the Detroit community.
From this partnership, we are currently in the process of applying for SBIR/STTR funding through WSU that will give us access to a lot more resources to keep us growing.
THE CAUSE
One of the most valuable resources to cultivate a growing company is an involved community. In the heart of Detroit, Wilson Adaptive has formed a network of other passionate individuals who wish to utilize their resources to bring much needed change to people in need.
In Michigan alone, there are 2.1 million people living with self-care or ambulatory difficulties that impact their ability to eat, get dressed, and maintain their hygiene. Mobility impairments leave these people reliant on the healthcare system to meet their basic needs.
But there is a problem. Upwards of 11 billion dollars are spent annually on treatment for injuries that arise as a result of neglect of people with disabilities or unsuitable assistive tech. 1 in 4 adults in the US already face the stress of managing their disability, and these avoidable injuries exacerbate the already staggering stress that 1 in 4 adults face.
At Wilson Adaptive we are working to exceed ADA standards
WAT is doing important work developing the devices necessary for people with disabilities to live healthy, fulfilling lives. The current focus, the modular showers, are just one step of many to alleviate the daily struggles from this marginalized group.
It's a Cycle.
Maintaining your daily health is a balance of time, resources, and motivation. On top of these factors, people living with disabilities face the added challenge of managing their condition. Without accommodations it becomes a struggle for people with disabilities to care for their hygiene which can affect other important aspects of their well-being such as mental and physical health. These outcomes in turn make it harder for individuals to find the motivation to care for themselves, perpetuating the cycle of helplessness.
WAT aims to combat this cycle by giving people with disabilities the means to take back control of their health and break the cycle.