As a normal person you may never feel any discomfort while getting dressed or undressed each day. However, it is not the same when it comes to older adults and especially caregivers. It can be a major obstacle for them due to different types of physical limitations. The good news is that these obstacles can be overcome with adaptive clothing both for the older adults, the patients as well as the caregivers alike. Therefore, it is essential to have this specific type of clothing in the wardrobe.
These clothes help adults suffering from physical disabilities such as arthritis. Physical disability in the senior citizens, men and women alike, can turn even the seemingly simplest task into a nightmare and an almost impossible job. This is extremely frustrating for the person concerned as well as the person helping him or her, if any.
Makes Dressing Easier:
Adaptive clothing is designed and modified to keep dressing and undressing as easy as it should be for older people and less painful for the patients. Adaptive clothing includes:
- Adaptive shirts
- Pants
- Tops and
These clothes come with special features and accessories such as:
- Either Velcro or magnetic closures in place of the uncomfortable buttons
- The tops usually open at the back, side or shoulder
- The pants normally open partially or fully down the sides
- The wheelchair pants can be put on remaining seated
- The shoes with Velcro openings can be stepped in directly and then fastened.
Each of these features and options provide new possibilities to the people experiencing physical limitations as well as help the people who care for them.
Benefits of adaptive clothing
There are several different benefits offered by the Resident Essentials adaptive clothing to older adults and people suffering from physical limitations. For example:
- People with debilitating conditions usually experience pain in moving the joints especially while dressing and undressing. Adaptive clothing offers them pain relief.
- It also helps to lessen emotional stress related to dressing and undressing in these people as they feel frustrated when they cannot complete a task on their own which was once very easy for them.
- Moreover, a few people do not like to be handled by others and adaptive clothing lets them do a work for themselves as much as possible.
- These clothes also expedite the dressing and undressing processes by the person themselves and also instills a feeling of control, well-being and independence.
In short, the adaptive clothing benefits the older people as well as the caregivers by reducing the pain and effort they need to put in while dressing and undressing, whether it is the care recipients or the care givers. It is easy, convenient and less time consuming.
Where to find
You may not find adaptive clothing in every clothing store that you visit however these are not hard to find as it once was. This type of clothing is becoming progressively mainstream, to empower those people with disabilities as well as the caregivers by proxy.
Over the years, there has been a rising awareness about this specific type of clothing and its working. In addition to that, it is seen that over the years, reputed and reliable clothing brands have debuted in this specific segment of clothing and is doing well in business. Now you will even find adaptive clothes with innovative and useful features like magnetic zippers and adjustable hems as well.
Different brands have focused on the inclusivity and democratization of fashion and have taken up the vision to empower the differently abled adults. Therefore, you will find several different stores that stock adaptive clothing in their collection. All you need to do is sift through the internet and research a bit to find a large number of reliable boutique stores of original manufactures and also online selling platforms such as Amazon, eBay and others.
Moreover, it is also possible to modify your regular clothing into adaptive clothing. For this you will have to inquire at your local alterations shop for such possibilities.
Tips to buy
Now that you know that eliminating the difficulties in dressing and undressing of older citizens and differently abled persons is possible and easy, you should look for these clothes keeping a few specific points in mind.
The things that you should look for in adaptive apparel are:
- The design – It should be done with one goal in mind which is to make dressing easier. Ideally, this should not be very difficult when you know the features that you look for while buying any normal and regular clothing material. It is simple. Look for, the look, the comfort level, the feel, and of course the fit.
- The benefits – It is true that adaptive clothing may not look like regular clothes because it is designed keeping in mind the benefits of the older people and people with disabilities, Therefore it is more for the benefit of them both physically and psychologically. It must be comfortable, less rigid, and should not be easily distinguishable from regular clothing. It should not look ugly on the wearer or else no one will like to wear it. The back snaps and hook and loop closures must be discrete, easy to use and made with care. It must ideally endorse a sense of well-being apart from feeling well-dressed.
- The feel – People requiring wearing adaptive clothing are usually under long term care facilities or a skilled nursing facility. As a result, these clothing needs to be durable and the fabric must withstand harsh cleaning in industrial washing machines. It must be easy to care for and should be ideally created from a mixture of polyester and cotton. Skin sensitivity is a serious concern for seniors particularly as these are prone to bruises and decreased elasticity. Therefore, the material should not be abrasive or sensitive to the skin.
Apart from the above, you must look for the stitching along the seams so that it has less friction and fit quite well in especially the nuanced areas. Most importantly, it should accommodate weight fluctuations to allow seated dressing.
