as will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art the configuration of the touch sensitive electronic element 210 shown in fig2 is one of many different touch switch systems that may be employed within the scope of the invention such systems could include for example programmable logic arrays or microprocessors to achieve the desired lighting timing as shown in fig3 a the hand rail 100 may be employed in a patient care room 300 to provide a patient with support and guidance from a bed 310 to a restroom 320 in this example since no one is touching the hand rail 100 in fig3 a the lighting elements are off however as shown in fig3 b a patient 302 touching the hand rail 100 causes the lighting elements to illuminate that area 330 under the hand rail 100 thereby providing the patient 302 with greater stability and confidence while lessening the potential for the patient 302 to slip trip or fall one example of a system 400 including a hand rail 410 mounted on a wall 402 is shown in fig4 in this embodiment the electronic circuits 412 used to control the lighting are contained within the hand rail 410 this example also employs a strut 420 to provide added vertical support to the hand rail 410 in other embodiments the hand rail and its mounting elements can be built of materials of sufficient strength so as not to employ a strut an example of an electrical device 500 employed in one embodiment is shown in fig5 this embodiment is powered by a 24 v dc wall input to power light emitting diodes leds through a printed circuit board this device lessens the potential for physical injury adverse psychological effects extended hospital stays.