Caregiver-Friendly & Assisted Dressing

What types of patient clothing does Buck and Buck carry? Often the term "patient" is equated with individuals in acute care facilities and the term "resident" is applied to people in nursing homes, rehab settings, and assisted living situations. Buck and Buck carries a variety of patient care and resident clothing items to meet the dressing and personal care needs for any setting. Our primary focus is the elderly resident who lives in a nursing home, their own home, or an assisted living facility. However, we do carry a popular line of gowns for men and women, better known as hospital gowns in the acute care hospital industry. These garments have an open back design with a closure at the shoulder that makes the wearer look great and feel comfortable while also permitting access for giving personal care that may be required. We have a variety of fabrics and styles for both women and men.

We also have many options of open back and side zip patient clothing items that caregivers appreciate in the various settings where you find adult patients. The open back styles allow the person to be dressed more easily by a caregiver and the side zip clothing permits the patient to be able to assist themselves in the dressing and personal care process.

Physical therapy and occupational therapy are accomplished more easily for patients with an amputation, a stroke, fractures, or joint replacements when the man or woman is dressed in our adaptive clothing styles. The garments are cut generously allowing ease of movement. We will also work with the individual and the caregiver to make any special adaptation to a garment that is necessary.

An additional patient clothing need that is gaining in popularity is the full figure garment. We have added larger sizes to accommodate the plus size senior. Let us know if you have a special request.
Buck and Buck also carries a selection of footwear for women and men that facilitates self dressing with the easy hook and loop closures and slip on non-skid styles as well as socks that stretch to allow for swelling in feet and ankles.

If you have a dressing problem that you don’t see a solution for in our patient care clothing selection, please contact us and we’ll work together to come up with a solution.

Does Buck and Buck carry nursing home resident clothing? Buck and Buck’s specialty is nursing home resident clothing. You have come to the right place to shop! Our clothing is designed to assist the elderly nursing home resident to dress independently for as long as physically and mentally possible.

The designs in our nursing home resident clothing make use of VELCRO® brand closures, front zippers, elastic waistbands, generous necklines to make over the head styles easy to pull on and many other design considerations that eliminate potential dressing obstacles. We also have a large collection of adaptive clothing that makes it easy for the caregiver to dress the nursing home resident with ease and comfort for the elderly person. For example, our nursing home resident clothing features bilateral 22 inch long side zippers in the adaptive side zip pants which make transfers and toileting a much easier task. We also have many styles of open back dresses, shirts, nightwear and sweaters in a variety of colors and patterns to keep the male and female resident looking smart yet comfortable.

We develop our designs based upon discussion with healthcare workers and family members like you, so if you have a need that you don't see a solution for in our clothing, let our customer service representatives know and we'll work to come up with an answer to your problem.

Please take a look at our collection of nursing home resident clothing and let us help you to shop for your family member or friend.

Assisted dressing may become necessary if we develop any impairment in function as we age. These impairments may range from restricted movement in arms and legs due to arthritis, muscle weakness, or limits imposed by stroke, Parkinson’s, or other conditions. Impaired or decreased function may also just be the result of growing older. Assisted dressing clothing is a design of clothing that Buck and Buck manufactures and sells to promote independent dressing for the elderly and to make the dressing process easier for the caregiver when the help of a caregiver is involved.

Buck and Buck designs promote as much independence in dressing as possible. We do this in a variety of ways such as using VELCRO® brand closures in place of zipper flies, on shirt and blouse placards behind the buttons, on shoes and slippers, and to replace snaps if these adaptations will assist the person to dress without assistance. Our assisted dressing designs feature VELCRO® brand closures, long bilateral side zippers, generously cut fabric, easy-to-wear elastic waistbands, and zipper pulls and loops. Our footwear for women and men also features easy-wear designs with hook and loop closures, safety soles, and a selection of shoes and socks that are very suitable for feet that swell and have other problems such as bunions and hammer toes.

Other of our design standards is the attention to necklines, waistlines, shoulder seams, and garment length. If the neckline openings are not too tight, and waistlines are comfortable and not fitted, the individual will be more easily able to self-dress. Material at the shoulder should be less restrictive so the person can dress without pulling and tugging, and front zippers for dresses and other garments make access easier for seniors. Our fabrics are easy to care for as well as easy to wear. We test our fabrics to hold up to the high temperatures of the laundries in nursing homes, yet we make certain that the fabrics are easy on the fragile skin of the elderly.

We develop our designs based upon our experiences in working in nursing homes, talking with caregivers, talking with the elderly, and talking with individuals with varieties of handicaps and medical problems. We listen to our customers’ dressing problems and work with them to come up with solutions that make dressing easier. When a unique dressing problem is solved, we use that information to help others with similar issues, making our collection of assisted dressing and adaptive clothing designs grow.

If a person must have someone help with the dressing process, our snap-back designs are just the thing. Looks like everyday wear. No one would know that the garment opens down the back for easy assisted dressing. Our bilateral side-zip pants are perfect for the senior or any adult who loves to wear pants but needs help to put them on. Dressing can easily be done while the person is seated or even lying in bed. Assisted dressing designs are suitable for the elderly at home, in assisted living, or in nursing home facilities.

Take a look at our assisted dressing garments and accessories for women and men to make life a little easier, and browse through our entire catalog for other dressing needs.

Clothing Preparations for moving to assisted living facilities: There are actually several features that you should look for in clothing for the elderly who live in assisted living facilities.

First, the clothing should be made of comfortable fabric. Why comfortable? The skin of the elderly is often more fragile and will tear, scratch and bruise more easily so it is important that the fabric which is closest to the skin be soft to the touch. Often cotton and cotton/poly blends, brushed cottons, soft flannels and fleece are good fabrics to look for. Layering of clothing is also helpful to prevent skin tears, so look at coordinating outfits with sweaters, vests and fleece.

Second, the clothing should be stylish, yet easy to wear and easy to launder. Why are these features important? Most of us, no matter our age, like to look good in the clothes we wear. Just because a living arrangement has changed, the way we choose to look has probably not changed. We want clothes to look good and we don't want to struggle to put clothes on. Avoid back zippers, short side zippers and small buttons.

The assisted living facility may offer a laundry service for the residents. If they do offer this type of service, ask what kind of laundry it is. If the laundry is of the commercial type which would be similar to those in hospitals or nursing homes, clothing needs to be able to withstand the high temperatures of the washing and drying cycles that these laundries provide. Select clothing that is washable, doesn't require ironing and that will not shrink. All of the Buck and Buck designs meet these criteria.

The third feature is that the clothing should promote independence in dressing. Buck and Buck clothing designs strive to foster independence in dressing for as long as possible through the use of pull on and over the head styles, easy to use zippers, snaps, buttons and VELCRO® brand (or hook and loop) closures when needed.

Often the elderly living in assisted living situations have medical conditions that have caused mild or severe disabilities which make the senior less independent and in need of the skills of a caregiver. The popular features in our adaptive assisted living clothing line of open back, side zip and cut away designs allow for ease in dressing and in providing personal care to the senior. The caregiver is able to dress the assisted living resident in our open back clothing while the senior lady or gentleman is still in bed or in a wheelchair. The side zip assisted living clothing may also be used this way because our bilateral zippers are 22 inches long which permit the caregiver to dress the senior while still lying in bed. Our cut away designs also make the dressing process easy and make toileting and personal care helpful to the senior and the caregiver.

We have developed our adaptive clothing designs through listening to the dressing problems and needs of our customers and through our own observations made in nursing homes and assisted living facilities that we serve. Let our customer service representatives help you with any unique dressing problems that you are experiencing in either home care, nursing home, or assisted living situations.

What types of self dressing clothes does Buck and Buck carry? Our clothing line features many items of women’s and men’s garments designed to help the wearer maintain independence in dressing. Our self dressing clothes have easy tab zippers, stretchy elastic waistbands, large buttons, hook and loop closures, generous necklines when appropriate and easy to use snaps.

Our philosophy is that the elderly and those adults with disabilities should be encouraged to be as independent as possible for as long as possible. Buck and Buck’s self dressing clothes will help the man or woman to maintain dignity and self worth because the individual will be able to dress with no or as little assistance for as long as possible. For example, in the women’s section of our self dressing clothes, our front zipper dresses encourage self dressing as do our jumpers and other pull over dresses and dusters. Grab loops sewn into pants and culottes are also commonly done to assist the wearer with self dressing.

In the men’s section of our self dressing clothes the elastic waist pants and the VELCRO® brand closures on shirts and pant fly are also very popular. And don't forget the footwear. Our men's and women's shoes and slippers allow self dressing with the slip on styles and hook and loop tab closures that make putting on footwear a much easier task.

What is hospice clothing? Hospice clothing is garments designed to make dressing easier for the person who can no longer dress without assistance due to illness at the end stages of life. Garments that have been adapted to ease dressing are very important for peace of mind for the caregiver and comfort for the wearer.

Suitable hospice clothing from the Buck and Buck collection would be any of our snap back, rear closure, open back garments found in our Adaptive Clothing section on our homepage. These garments are made with the dignity and comfort of the wearer in mind as well as providing assistance to the caregiver in dressing the hospice individual. Some of our most popular items are our open back sweats for women and for men, and our rear closure gowns and nightwear. We can adapt any of our garments to become rear closure items, just ask us.

Don’t forget the footwear as you shop for hospice clothing. We have many items in our sock and slipper collection that will keep the legs and feet warm for the person who is lying in bed or in a recliner. Inactivity and slowed bodily functions may cause the person to feel cold, so clothing layers are always good to have on hand.

To experience the loving, palliative care that hospice organizations provide can be very comforting at a time that we may feel very helpless. If you need to find hospice resources, go to www.hospicefoundation.org. For your hospice clothing needs, let us help you.

Buck and Buck prides itself on our design of clothes that makes dressing easy for the elderly, for adults who need assisted dressing and for the caregiver who needs to help the individual with getting dressed. All of our clothes are easy wear and easy care. The designs are intended to facilitate the elderly and adult with a disability to self dress with little or no assistance. This is accomplished with our use of zippers, VELCRO® brand closures, large buttons, over the head styles and easy pull up pants with non-roll elastic waistbands.

Another feature of our clothes that make dressing easy is in our adaptive clothing styles for women and men. Our open back and side zip clothing have snaps down the entire length of the garment to make assisted dressing easy. No tugging or pulling required when you follow our dressing tips. Our side zip pants feature bilateral, 22 inch long zippers that help the care giver to dress the person while seated or still in bed and the long zippers permit self toileting if the individual can perform this function independently.

Take a look at our collection of clothes that make dressing easy. You are certain to find many items that will be helpful to you.

Usually for seniors the idea of staying in their own home is very important. Often the need to "downsize" will have the senior look at the possibility of active adult retirement communities and many of those communities have the possibility of "progressive care" if and when needed. When older adults begin to think of moving into retirement settings, it is also the time to review the person’s physical strengths and limitations and one of those considerations is the physical ability to manage dressing as they always have in the past.

Maintenance of independence in this task is often overlooked. Some of the things to look at are the ability to manage buttons, zippers and shoe laces. Should hook and loop closures replace buttons and shoe laces? How stable is the person when standing? Does he or she need to partially dress while seated?

Buck and Buck is a company that has always kept the desire for independent dressing a priority in the designs of our clothing. Easy wear and easy care clothing is one of our benchmarks in clothing development. We also keep the caregiver in mind in our assisted dressing clothing designs for men and for women in the retirement community.

Please take a look at our many fashionable styles and let us know how we can help you.

What is unique about clothing for residents of nursing homes? There are actually several features that need to be considered when choosing clothing for the elderly who live in nursing homes. First of all, the clothing should be made of a comfortable fabric. This is especially true when the individual is confined to a recliner or wheelchair all day. Soft, smooth lines of a garment feel less irritating to the skin.

Next, the clothing should be stylish, yet easy to wear. Everyone wants to look their best. It doesn't matter what the living arrangement is for an individual to want to look good and feel good about him or herself. Another major consideration is that the garments must be easy to launder and easy to affix a personalized label to. Remember that nursing homes have commercial style laundries that wash and dry clothing with very high temperatures. Garments must be able to withstand this type of harsh treatment. It is also necessary to have the resident’s name affixed to every item of clothing so that they will get their own clothing back after being laundered. All of the Buck and Buck designs meet the above criteria.

Another important feature of Buck and Buck’s nursing home clothing is that our designs promote independence in dressing for as long as possible through the use of pull on and over the head styles, easy to use zippers, snaps and buttons and VELCRO® brand closures when needed.

Often the elderly living in nursing homes have medical conditions that have caused mild or severe disabilities which make the senior less independent and in need of the skills of a caregiver. Our nursing home clothing is designed to be easy to use by the caregiver. The popular features in our adaptive nursing home clothing line of open back, side zip and cut away styles allow for ease in dressing and in providing personal care to the senior. The caregiver is able to dress the elderly resident in our open back clothing while the resident is still in bed or in a wheelchair. The side zip nursing home clothing garments may also be used this way because our zippers are 22 inches long which permits the caregiver to dress the senior while still lying in bed. Our cut away designs are perfect for the elderly who cannot ambulate and are confined to a wheelchair or recliner. The seats of the garments are cut away, making the dressing process easy and toileting and personal care less of a challenge.

We have developed our special line of adaptive clothing through listening to the dressing problems and needs of our customers and through our own observations made in nursing homes that we serve. Let our customer service representatives help you with any unique problems in dressing that you are experiencing with your loved one in either home care, nursing home, or assisted living situations.

Buttoning a blouse and tying a shoelace are tasks we take for granted until conditions such as arthritis, stroke, MS, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease or limited range of motion present new challenges. If you are a caregiver, a family member, or both, our catalog will acquaint you with clothing designs which make self and assisted dressing easier for a loved one.

We are thrilled that you have chosen to order from us! You are not required to create an account, but if you do so, it will make ordering in the future more convenient, as you will not have to re-enter your name, address, phone, etc. We will also keep your order history on record so that you can see past orders, and will store your different shipping addresses for future orders. We offer name labeling in the clothing at no charge. On the "Comments" screen, choose "Yes" to the labeling option, and type in the name exactly as you would like it to read on the label.

Prints and colors can be a bit confusing for first time orderer, as we carry a very large assortment of prints and colors and cannot show them all to you. You will choose the style that you want and then give us guidelines for color and print choices. Most of the time we will have a print that is very close to the one shown, but we also will have that item in dozens of other prints. This unique aspect of our business is because we work as personal shoppers for so many people in nursing homes, and have to make sure that there is enough variety that we do not duplicate prints for people residing in the same home.

Our peronal shoppers are terrific at putting together orders for you around your color preferences, and your likes and dislikes. Give us some guidelines in the comments screen at check out or let us create the outfits for you. We are sure you will be pleased. If you need the order shipped elsewhere, just give us the info and we will send your order off for you. Need a special card or greeting? Not a problem! We will enclose a card from you at no charge and hand write your message.

Our caregiver friendly dressing designs make the process of dressing an individual who needs assistance easy and less physically challenging. We appreciate that the task of dressing someone is potentially difficult.

Our designs for women and men have the caregiver in mind with easy dressing styles and fabrics that are comfortable yet easy to wear and care for. Our open back clothing snaps completely down the back of the garment which prevents the need for pulling and tugging. The garments can be put on while the person is sitting or reclined in bed.

Our side zip pants have 22 inch long bilateral side zippers that make pulling on pants possible while the person is seated or lying in bed. A simple side to side roll will help the caregiver to pull up the garments and secure them in place with little or no tugging or pulling. Our designs make dressing much easier on the person who is in need of assisted dressing as well.

Take a look at all of our adaptive, caregiver friendly clothing. You are certain to find garments that you just have to have.

At Buck & Buck we have been providing dressing solutions for nursing facility residents for over 30 years, offering quality adaptive garments and the services needed to make ordering and distribution easy for any size facility.

Our customer service staff averages over 10 years experience, so we are well versed in assessing special needs and offering solutions that work. We work hard at making shipping especially easy for our friends at facilities. By choosing this category, all you need to do is set up an account by using your email address and a password, filling in yourself as the contact name, as well as the name, address and phone number of the facility. Each time you order, after filling your cart, just enter that same email address and password and from here all we need is the resident’s name and the items needed. If you have several residents to order for, you only have to log in once.

As you start each new order, you only need to fill in the resident’s name. We will enclose your invoice with the order(s), send the package to your attention, and you can forward the invoice to the bookkeeper or the rep-payee for payment. We only ask that payment be remitted within 30 days of the order. Of course, if you prefer to give us a credit card number with the expiration date, you may do so.

As a service, we offer name labeling at no charge to you, and as long as the garments have not been laundered or worn (except to try on, of course), they are still returnable with our label in them. Please give us the name and/or information exactly as you would like it labeled in the "Resident’s Name/PO#" field on the Billing Address screen.

If you would like to order for House Supply, and don't need the items labeled, you can just put house order or your purchase order number in the "resident’s name" field and we will know not to label the clothing. Large house orders will require more shipping charges, however. We will email or call you with the amount prior to shipping.

If you would like us to send a copy of the invoice to a 3rd party, simply type that name and address under the comment section of the order. We will send the original to you with the order.

Moving into a nursing home often presents at least a few challenges that, if addressed early on, can make the transition a little easier for everyone. One of those challenges is what to bring. Usually the personal space in the room is not large, so selecting things like favorite pictures that can be hung on the wall or placed on the dresser is very important.

These pictures can serve as a source of comfort, memories and points for socialization in the new environment of the nursing home. Special blankets or throws for the bed are also helpful in making the room more familiar and give a little sense of the individual. A purse for the woman is also an important item, but make certain that nothing very valuable is in the purse. Personal care items like a favorite hair brush and hair care accessories are also important. Favorite books, writing material or journals are helpful if your loved one enjoys those types of activities. Keeping some routine and familiarity with the past is usually very meaningful for those moving into a new environment.

The next thing to consider is the clothing your loved one will need. If you are not going to take clothing home to be washed, it is very important that you keep in mind the toll that the industrial strength laundering process takes on clothing. Any garment that is not “wash and wear” should not be brought into the nursing home. Please note that all of Buck and Buck clothing is wash and wear!

You should also check clothing items to make certain that they are not torn or worn to the point that high wash and dry temperatures will shred them. Another important consideration as you look through your loved one’s closet is whether or not independent dressing is possible or does your loved one need assisted dressing.

If independent dressing is still possible, then many of the items in the closet may be an option for their new residence. If self dressing is not possible, you may want to look at our wide variety of adaptive clothing. You are certain to find what you need for your gentleman or lady.

All clothing, slippers and shoes will need to have your loved one’s name written in with a laundry marker or sewn in with a label. Even then, items of clothing get misplaced so checking the closets and dressers every time you visit is helpful.

The types and quantities of clothing your loved one will need is as follows:

• A minimum of 7 days of underwear and socks for the gentleman or lady, and if incontinence is an issue, 14 days is better.
• One or two pair of non skid, easy to wear shoes and slippers. If laces are a problem then hook and loop closures on shoes or slip on shoes that give support are best. Take a look at our footwear collection for men and women.
• Pants and/or skirts that will coordinate with a variety of shirts/blouses/t-shirts. If pants are the preferred clothing item, at least 5 pair would be good.
• Dresses that are non-restrictive and the right length if your loved one will be in a wheelchair. Dresses that are too short will not be modest when sitting in a gerichair or wheelchair. If a dress is the preferred clothing item, at least 5 should be in the closet;
  Sweaters/vests/shawls that will go with many of the outfits. Usually 2 or 3 are enough.
• Sweatsuits or loose fitting pants if therapy is to be done. Many times sweats become a favorite of both men and women so a couple of pair in the beginning may be just right, but later, more may be needed;
  Sleepwear (4) and robes (2) that are comfortable.
• Slips (3 or 4) for the woman.
• A coat or jacket for going outside in the courtyard or on outings.

Following this guide will give your loved one a good start and hopefully provide a little peace of mind for you.