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The information listed I hope will in some small way help
the patient or the caregiver to maintain the best quality
of life possible. My dresses and gowns are designed for the
nursing home or home health patients who need help with dressing
and undressing. As long as a person can independently dress
themselves, please encourage them to maintain their ability
to carry out activities of daily living independently. Only
when they can no longer do this for themselves should they
have help or change to a garment that makes dressing and undressing
as least stressful as possible for the patient and caregiver.
In providing a back closure garment to meet my mother’s
needs and manufacturing them for the public, I hope they meet
your loved one’s needs and help give her the best quality
of life possible. I hope it will restore dignity and self-esteem
which they so rightly deserve.
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Most people who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, strokes,
Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, degenerative muscular
diseases and paralysis due to injuries or diseases find incontinence
a problem with no easy solution. The affected person may be
a man or woman, young or old, alert or experiencing varying
degrees of dementia, ambulatory or in a wheelchair and/or being
cared for in a nursing facility or at home. All of these factors
can bear on making the most appropriate decision when selecting
garments.
An adult diaper may be used which will retain fluid or stool
(and their odors) more readily than a pad but it is more difficult
to change and may result in skin irritation if left unattended.
Most nursing facilities address the incontinent woman with what
is called an incontinence pad. These pads are provided by the
facility and are placed on the seat of the chair or wheelchair.
The woman is then seated on the pad. Her gown or dress is lifted
in the back so the resident is not sitting on it. This allows
a soiled pad to be replaced when necessary while clothing stays
dry and may continue to be worn. The down side to this procedure
is most dresses and gowns when pulled up in the back, ride up
in the front as well, exposing knees and the lower thighs. This
causes needed coverage of a cover or lap robe. The bunching
around the waistline is also uncomfortable.
Another makeshift solution, which my mother chose, was to wear
a snap duster backwards, allowing the caregiver to snap it closed
down to the waistline. From the waist down the duster is pulled
apart and to the sides, so the skirt does not ride up in the
front and offer good knee coverage. The down side to this obvious,
the dress is on backwards so the pockets are inaccessible and
the neckline is too high to be comfortable. Knowing you clothing
is on backward also results in a loss of self-esteem.
My back closure Abracadabra dress makes it easy to dress someone
seated. By slipping over the arms and snapping the back yoke,
the sides of the dress slips in the chair or wheelchair giving
good coverage over the legs. The neckline and pockets are on
the front side where they are supposed to be. Self-esteem is
improved which has a great bearing on your quality of life.
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| My father has had Alzheimer’s disease for about 8 years.
Caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease can be
a challenging experience for everyone involved. Something as
simple as getting and staying dressed can become a monumental
task of an Alzheimer’s patient and their caregiver if they
are in a nursing facility or at home. Sometimes they undress
themselves at inappropriate times if they have buttons or zippers
on the front of their garments. They simply unbutton buttons
because they are there. Alzheimer’s patients sometimes
resist anyone dressing or undressing them and become irritated
at the caregiver trying to help with this task. A caregiver
can quickly dress a lady who suffers from Alzheimer’s with
my back closure Abracadabra dress. Since there are no buttons
or zippers on the front of the garment, the patient does not
have easy access to undressing themselves. |
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| Along with a degenerative muscular disease, my mother also
was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. It causes a variety
of difficulties in dressing for both the person suffering from
the symptoms of this disease as well as the caregiver. Because
the most common difficulties are with balance and hands which
shake uncontrollably, the task of dressing is usually a difficult
one. One tip is to avoid buttons which cause frustration to
a person if he or she has difficulty in holding their hands
steady. Rather than buttons, choose garments that have Velcro
or zipper closures. Help them hold on to their independence
as long as possible by choosing this type of closures which
they can still maintain themselves. When they can no longer
dress themselves, try the easiest method I have found, my Abracadabra
dress. The wide armholes make it easy to place their shaking
arms through and by snapping the back yoke, they will be dressed.
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