Self Dressing and Adaptive Clothing

Caregivers are under a considerable amount of stress due to all the responsibilities they have -- dispensing medication, doctor's appointments, preparing meals, housekeeping, etc.

Making use of adaptive clothing is one way to reduce a bit of that stress. For example, changing an adult diaper is much easier when you deal with velcro fasteners rather than zippers and buttons.

So, who can make use of adaptive clothing?

• Elderly or nursing home residents.
• Someone with arthritis or limited mobility
• Incontinent
• Wheelchair bound
• Surgical patients
• Recuperating from injury

There are many medical conditions that limit mobility and a person's ability to dress themselves -- stroke, multiple schlerosis, or being wheelchair bound. Additionally, elderly people may not leave the home because they find dressing too difficult. It doesn't matter if the disability is permanent or temporary. Adaptive clothing accommodates both age and disability.

If you're recuperating at home from an illness or injury, think of the difficulty involved in changing clothes when you have a cast on a broken leg or a surgical drain. If you're running back and forth to doctor's appointments, what will you wear? Your regular clothes won't fit around a cast or drain.

There are also illnesses which make a person take off their clothes at inappropriate times. Locking clothing with back zippers is available. The zippers are off center and placed where a person would not normally look for them.

Make a caregiver's life a little easier. Having to change adult diapers as well as give medications and baths is easier with this type of clothing. If you know someone with limited mobility or recuperating from an injury, suggest adaptive clothingas an alternative. It will help make life a little easier and let them keep a bit of dignity.

Adaptive clothing--preserves independence and assists the caregiver