7. Managing clothes
Key points
- Easy to manage clothes help people do as much as they can for themselves.
- Make sure new clothes are easy to wash and dry.
- Snug-fitting underwear is needed to hold continence pads in place.
Clothing choices can help to reduce laundry workload, keep people independent and protect dignity. As with most clothing choices, these decisions are a balance between comfort, people’s preferences and practicality.
Easy to manage
Some people living with dementia find buttons, zips and belts hard to manage. Instead, look for elasticated waists or Velcro fastenings. These can help make putting on and removing clothes easier, which is important when trying to use the toilet or change a pad. A wide range of ‘adaptive’ clothing (designed to be easy to manage) is available online for different needs.
Consider buying more than one of the same item if it works well.
Using continence products
If someone is using a continence pad, it is important that they wear snug-fitting underwear that holds the pad closely to their body. Men should wear well-fitting underpants rather than boxers. When using pull-up continence pants, it’s helpful if any trousers or tights are easy to remove and put on again.
“Doing practical things like buying clothes that would launder easily, having enough of them to be able to change them, organising them in a way that if he did need to replace something he could easily get to it to sort herself out.”
Daughter in law
If you need to help someone to change their pad or continence product, think about clothing that can help to do that easily and at the same time protect the person’s dignity as much as possible. For women, it might be that skirts or dresses are easier to manage, particularly if the person is using pull-up pants.
Laundry
Easy-care clothes that can be washed on a normal washing cycle and don’t require ironing can be helpful.