Are you finding dressing challenging because your dexterity has declined? When getting dressed becomes a chore, it may feel like some of your independence slips away as you struggle with a tight buttonhole. Not to worry! There is a simple remedy to your situation: adaptive clothing.
What Is Adaptive Clothing?
Adaptive clothing is specifically designed to accommodate the needs of individuals with physical or cognitive impairments. This clothing is ideal for those who have problems with mobility or find it difficult to reason through simple tasks like fastening a button. Adaptive clothing can positively impact people's lives by helping them maintain independence.
3 Top Features of Adaptive Clothing
Let's look at the most popular forms of adaptive clothing.
1. Easy Fastenings
Adaptive clothing uses magnetic buttons, Velcro closures, and snap buttons. These closures make dressing easier while maintaining the outward appearance of regular clothing. These simplify dressing and undressing, consequently reducing frustration.
2. Adjustable Sizing
Our body sizes fluctuate, and adjustable clothing ensures a better, more comfortable, and more secure fit. Examples include elastic waistbands, adjustable cuffs, and clothing with wide openings.
3. Functional Design Elements
To ensure comfort, snap buttons, flat seams, and tag-less clothing are a great consideration. Pants with easy snap openings, wrap-around style shirts and skirts, and side-opening dresses or shirts are all practical yet stylish tools to help seniors maintain their all-important independence.
Types of Adaptive Clothing
Any garment can be altered to make it easier to put on, regardless of limitations or disability. From casual to formal attire, a tweak or two is often all that's needed to allow a person with limited mobility to dress themselves. This simple act reinforces a person's sense of dignity and independence.
Everyday Wear
Adaptive clothing items such as pants with easy closures, adaptive shirts with open sides or backs that close with magnetic closures, Velcro, or hidden snaps, and slip-on shoes provide comfort and style. They also accommodate the specific needs of the elderly and disabled. Some examples include:
Internal belts in pants
Pants designed higher in the back than in the front for those using wheelchairs
Zippers along shirt sleeves to allow access to casts, ports, and bandages
Step-in shoes for ease in putting on
Skirts or dresses with magnetic closures instead of buttons
Specialized Garments
This type of clothing is created for specific health concerns and medical conditions. Examples include Bariatric clothing, post-surgical wear, and incontinence-friendly attire.
Seasonal Clothing
Everyone enjoys dressing up in seasonal-themed clothing. Adapting these types of clothing ensures comfort during the holiday season and weather-appropriate attire. Some popular examples of adaptive outwear for winter include:
Wheelchair coats are voluminous, warm coats that fit over both the person and the wheelchair.
Adaptive winter coats appear to be "normal" coats. Designed to fit like normal coats, they offer easy closure, often using Velcro, magnets, or zipper pulls.
Examples of lightweight summer wear include:
Simple V-neck or scoop-neck shirts have zippers along the shoulder seams that run halfway down the sleeves and may also have zippers in the front.
Skirts, shorts, and pants with elastic waistbands or drawstrings can accommodate weight or body shape changes.
3 Benefits of Adaptive Clothing for Seniors and People with Limited Mobility
Enhanced independence. One can dress independently or with minimal assistance by wearing a shirt with magnetic buttons.
Improved comfort. Soft fabrics in adaptive designs reduce irritation and discomfort. A senior with arthritis can much more easily wear a garment with adjustable closures.
Increased dignity. When seniors have a choice of adaptive clothing, they can choose what to wear without help, giving them the power to maintain their style.
Consider Adaptive Clothing
Adaptive clothing emphasizes the importance of comfort, independence, and dignity for those who need it. You and your caregiver can discuss adaptive clothing items that would make getting dressed more manageable for both of you. Plan an outing together to local specialty stores or browse websites online. A few new garments can make a difference for your elderly loved one.