Choosing Clothing for Independence
In the run up to publication of my new book Carers and Caring; the One Stop Guide; how to care for older relatives and friends I am sharing an A to Z of some of the practical solutions learned from research and experience. If you think any problems have been missed you can email me and tell me, and I’ll make sure they are covered in the next edition and online on my website at www.juneandrews.net.
Clothing
Choosing the right clothing can make a difference to someone’s independence. Casual clothes have become much more common recently as fewer people have been going to offices. Those clothes make it easier for people with sensory or physical impairment to dress and undress. At last, we have realised that clothing is much more about being comfortable than appearance. However, a previous generation may still value the ‘shirt, tie and jacket’ more formal dress. It is well known that some older people, particularly gentlemen, have favourite articles of clothing that they like to wear again and again. Poor eyesight might mean that he cannot see that his trousers are covered in stains. Women are more inclined to wear different clothes from day today, allowing clothes to be laundered. When your dad wants to wear the same things all the time, a good solution is to get identical sets of the same clothes so that even if there is one in the wash, they are wearing one and there’s another one in the wardrobe. They can wear the same outfit every day. Like Simon Cowell or Barak Obama. The very definition of cool.
Encourage the person to dress themselves
Sometimes dressing someone is faster than allowing them to dress themselves, but it is ideal for someone you care for only to do this in emergencies or if there’s a reason to hurry. Care staff are encouraged to allow the person to dress themselves. You yourself as an informal carer have to do what you have to do. If the person has dementia, they may not choose the right clothes for the weather. You can lay out clothes for someone to dress themselves, or if you are with them hand them the items one by one. If you can put away some unseasonable clothes in a place that is less accessible, you reduce the likelihood of the wrong clothes being chosen. Fastenings like Velcro, large zippers and elasticated waistbands make it simpler for people to take their clothes on and off themselves. Slip-on shoes with Velcro fasteners make life easier.
Dress for comfort AND safety
As well as dressing for comfort, people must dress for safety. Ill-fitting slippers and shoes are a recipe for disaster, causing slips and trips. A dressing gown that is too long is likely to cause a fall when someone is moving about inside the house.
Older people do not feel the cold as younger people do and may not wear enough clothes in winter. Deaths from hypothermia in colder parts of the country in bitter winters are not uncommon. With climate change and some desperately hot days, we may also discover that older people are having difficulty in surviving in the heat and dressing appropriately for that. In 2020 an average of 9,700 deaths each year are believed to be caused by living in a cold house in the UK. Not having enough money for fuel, or even imagining that you don’t have enough money for fuel, is the basic reason. If the person you care for is inclined to economise on the heating, making sure they have warm clothes goes some way towards protecting them.
There is much more about clothing in Carers and Caring: The One-Stop Guide: How to care for older relatives and friends - with tips for managing finances and accessing the right support available from all good bookshops in May 2022
Three hints:
1. You can support an older person to dress themselves
2. Putting away the ‘wrong trousers’ helps
3. Getting cold in winter or hot in summer is a serious issue
