Curaco Carebidet, the excretion management system, 

came to the rescue to relieve the burden of caregivers!!

The most essential and burdensome task for those caregivers and patients at home,
in terms of its physical and emotional stress, is “excretion management”. The excretion care robot is listed on top of the Japanese government Care Robot Initiatives and a variety of products related to managing patient excretion, sensors estimating excretion, toilet assistance devices are developed and commercialized in the market. 

As part of care robots, the Automatic Toileting Aid System is already on the list of welfare equipment to be subsidized by the Japanese Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI). 

WITH Co., Ltd. – President Kitora Takatoshi – engaging in the development, sales, and rental of welfare equipment distributes Curaco CareBidet, the Automatic Toileting Aid System, and also provides rental services for Carebidet as a Long-Term Care Insurance item. 

Curaco Carebidet, the excretion care robot, is developed and manufactured by Curaco Inc., a Korean company, and is localized to the Japanese market in cooperation with WITH Co., Ltd. 

Once the unit’s diaper cup with a gender module is put on to a patient’s groin area, the embedded sensors detect urine and/or feces and it automatically sucks it up, washes the private parts of the patient with warm water, cleans the internal part of the diaper cup, and dries the body with gentle warm air. 

I’d like to introduce a story of a lady who needs to be taken care of for most of her daily activities and how Curaco Carebidet has come to the rescue of her and her family. 

Huka Yamashita, a 24-year-old woman, lives in a beautiful American-style house in Ayagacho Kagawa prefecture. Built with wooden walls and ceilings, the house gives a warm and cozy ambiance filled with pleasant wood scents. The barrier-free interior design enables the family to move Huka’s reclining wheelchair around the house, making it a perfect place for Huka and her parents Michihiko and Keiko.

Huka’s bedroom is located inner side of the first floor. Since a car accident happened on her way back from a part-time job when she was in 11th grade, her body has been completely paralyzed. She spent about two and a half years in a professional nursing and rehabilitation facility to treat her injuries caused by the accident and came back home in May 2017. 

Since then, Michihiko and Keiko started to take care of their daughter. During weekdays, Daily Care Service is available, but from evening till the morning, the parents must take full responsibility. 

“As we took her home, the most daunting task we were faced with was how to take her to the toilet during the night. Using adult diapers, we had to expect when she would feel the urge in order to check and change the diaper right after she would pee or poop. Having been already exhausted from our daily work, it was really hard and tiring for us to keep waking up through the night to do the task, and eventually, we had no choice but to leave her with wet diapers till the morning”, said Michihiko, the father, remembering those days. Both parents and the patient were having a difficult time with sleep deprivation. 

In addition, “When a diaper was not enough to soak it up, we had to change and wash her bedsheets and cloths in a busy morning before we went to work, which was a total chaos”, he added. Huka, a young woman, does not urinate/defecate as frequently as elders, but the amount is larger, so diapers should be changed frequently even with highly absorbent extra-large ones to avoid wetting the bed.  

With mounting anxiety over how long this would last, Michihiko was desperate and began searching on the internet, hoping to find a solution to relieve the burden of caregiving to make the lives of the couple and his daughter easier and pleasant. After a rigorous search with keywords like ‘automatic and/or excretion’, he found a website introducing Curaco Carebidet, the Automatic Toileting Aid System, and he clicked.

In high expectations of this never-seen-before, eye-opening device, Michihiko and Keiko immediately asked for a test run before purchasing it from a company where they bought a mattress for their daughter. 

It happened last summer. 

A sales staff visited the house immediately and installed Curaco Carebidet so that they can try a test run overnight. “I was so curious and went to my daughter’s room in the middle of the night and heard voice messages of automatic sucking, washing, and drying, making me feel so relieved. In the morning, the bedsheet was not wet, and I was like THIS IS IT!!!” said the mother. Huka herself seemed so pleased when Carebidet performed warm water washing, so the family decided to purchase the device without hesitation.

Huka is using Carebidet from 8 pm or 9 pm to 7 am the next morning. What you need to do is to put the diaper cup of Carebidet onto the groin area of the patient and cover it with a fabric called a motion control wrap. “For the first few times, you need to try to find its position that perfectly fits into the body. Once you find it, it is much better than changing diapers. Not difficult at all”, said Michihiko. 

“We used to have a hefty amount of diaper waste, but now we are using far less, only for Daily Care Service. I believe this is so meaningful in terms of SDGs – sustainable development goals -”.

“The part directly touching the groin area is so soft and does not cause any skin troubles even when used for a long time, and what’s amazing is that it always dries the body after washing, preventing any skin irritation, especially during the summer”, added Keiko. 

Huka smiles when hearing the starting sound of Carebidet and seems to enjoy a goodnight’s sleep not being bothered while the device is working. It used to take 30-40 minutes for the parents to change diapers and clothes in the morning, but now it is reduced to about 20 minutes to change the clothes, put off the Carebidet, and make things tidy.

“It used to be hurry-scurry in every morning to change bedsheets and clothes, put them to the washer, but now the stress has gone and it absolutely changed our lives. We are so grateful for this. I’d like to broadcast this fabulous Carebidet to every family who is having a really hard time taking care of their loved ones and let them know how amazing and convenient it is!”, exclaimed the parents with excitement and appreciation.

Article published in Silver Industry Newspaper of Japan on Jan. 10th, 2022