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My father is going to assisted living and I wanted to get him some clothes or any items to make it easier to give him care. He has trouble dressing himself. I am getting him tearaway pants, since he has issues going to the bathroom and wears adult diapers. I am sewing velcro in his long sleeve shirts so they are easier to fasten.


Are there any other items that would help like a certain style of undershirts; he gets cold easily but hates wearing clothes that are heavy? Many thanks!

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Choose inexpensive but good quality pieces that can stand up to frequent washing and high-temperature drying. Your loved one will need 8-10 pairs on pull-on pants and pullover tops or shirts. Athletic pants and long-sleeved polo shirts work very well. Be sure colors of all items are compatible, as caregivers and staff will not try to match pieces. Pants must be roomy enough to fit a diaper or pull-on incontinence brief. Remove tags, labels and any care tags as these can cause skin tears. All items should be marked with your loved one’s full name in permanent marker. You can expect items to be lost during laundering, so check clothing, socks, pajamas etc regularly. Don’t leave any valuable items in drawers or closet. Jewelry or reading glasses if any should be inexpensive and childproof.
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I found that anything that is comfortable is fine at the ALs I have encountered. The staff will assist him with dressing, including handling buttons and zippers, so, he won't have to do it alone. Most of the men that I see in AL wear their regular clothes. If the facility is going to do his laundry, I'd make sure they are little large at first and room for the clothes to shrink, as they put their laundry in very hot dryers. And, I'd check with them on velco, first. That may have a tendency to snag other articles of clothes in the laundry.
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Use Velcro sparingly (or choose alternatives - large plastic zippers, large buttons, easy snaps). Lighter weight Velcro is ineffective. The heavier type gets stuck on everything, increasing snags and frustration.
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Invisible Nov 2019
Totally agree. I hate Velcro closures on jackets, sleeves as I always catch on everything.
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There are stretchy shoestrings to use in lace up shoes so they function like pull-on shoes. Socks with the non-slip stuff on the bottom are useful; they may make some regular shoes (with a tight fit) harder to put on but they work fine with slippers. For elders who get up at night and need to wear socks to keep their feet warm, the non-slip socks may prevent a fall.

A personal sound amplifier with corded earplugs may help. The handheld amplifier has larger and easier to handle buttons (compared to hearing aids) and the elder can put the earplugs in as they want. My father would pull the plugs out whenever he wanted a nap or a break from the general noise in his MC. It uses one AAA battery which is much easier to swap out than any set of hearing aid batteries.

My father liked a personal DVD player to watch old cowboy movies and listen to CDs of audible books and music. I used a permanent gold colored marker to initial the player and DVDs/CDs I left with my father so they were easy to identify as his.

I found small plastic storage boxes to be helpful too - from index card to shoe box sized. My father could put small items like chap stick, kleenex, or his DVDs in them to keep things neat and put the box in his lap to take stuff out. When he moved from bed to chair, he often took the small box with him. Make sure the lids are not too hard to get off. There are some "super stacker" boxes with lids that set on and have fold up latches on each end that work really well.

An led floor lamp with a flexible head and dimable light is great by the table or bed. The on/off switch is slightly lit when the lamp is off so it's easy to find it in the dark. It comes on at the last light level and holding the switch down cycles it from bright to dim.
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Make sure you write or sew a label with his name into all his clothes if the facility will be doing his laundry.
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Shoes and slippers that are easy to do up. The trouble with slip-ons is that they either slip off, too, or they're too tight for the person to put on unassisted. So ones with Velcro fastenings are better.

The other tip for your father's being able to put on his own socks and shoes is a footstool or step that he can keep under his bed. It is amazing how much easier it is to put your shoe on if you can rest your foot just those 9-12 inches above the ground.

With clothes, I'd avoid adaptations that will stop things looking and feeling familiar to him. It's better to stick to the styles he's used to so that muscle memory can play its part in helping him.

I shouldn't bother with the tearaway pants (unless he has an awful lot of soiling accidents?), but do get him the kind of diapers that you tear open at the sides to remove - they're a godsend, and much more comfortable for the person as well.
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My FIL liked wearing sweatpants in the facility as they were comfortable and had no buttons, hooks or zippers to mess with.

If your father gets cold easily, perhaps some insulated underwear shirts would do. They're lightweight, stretchy and layer well under regular shirts.
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I honestly don't see tear away pants as being helpful, if anything they will cause problems because the laundry is not likely to reassemble them so they are ready to wear. I think that having shoes that are easy to get on/off if he needs to change his pants is probably a better solution, and emphasize to him that if he's having problems in the bathroom he needs to call for assistance.
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Mom has issues walking so I have a portable commode next to her bed and a shoe rack hanging behind her door so for this arrangement, furniture may have to be rearranged. The shoe rack holds her Depends, baby wipes, toilet paper and bags for the garbage (Dollar Tree 4 gal.) Mom can stand, pivot and sit on her comode. I can easily clean out and grab the bag for the trash. She also has hand sanitizer, baby powder, disposable chucks for her bed. Mom has several throws not full blanket which are easier to wash if soiled. I hang them in her closet for easy grab. I buy mom outfits I put together from local Goodwill. Like new but without the $$ tag. She loves them. I would suggest Dad simply long john top and socks. the bottom portion needs to be easy to pull down for bathroom like sweat pants. He is in the house. Dad may be from the era of pants up to the chest and a belt but this is about independence. The better independent Dad is, the easier life is for daughter. Good Luck.
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Google Buck & Buck online. They specialize in clothing for people with dementia and Alzheimers.
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Jillie1 Nov 2019
I get everything from Buck and Buck
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