Purpose Exercising is a key approach adopted by muscular dystrophy patients to halt the weakening of muscles as it can eventually lead to serious immobility issues. Though it is essential to exercise on a daily basis for healthy living, there is no mention of any research effort in the current literature regarding the development of an apparel product for these mobility-affected patients that might assist them both in meeting their exercising needs and providing them some comfort in their daily living. Thus, this paper aims to focus on identifying the specific needs of muscular dystrophy victims and proposing special adaptive clothing solutions to support their daily exercise and mobility needs. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the objectives of this study, attention was focused on the muscular dystrophy afflicted women in Sri Lanka. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the female victims of muscular dystrophy and their lifestyles were observed carefully; additional data were gathered by holding semi-structured interviews with their physiotherapists. Further, interviews were conducted with both garment technologists and fabric technologists too. Data gathered through these methods were analyzed qualitatively using the principles of thematic analysis and then aggregate conclusions were drawn. Findings It was observed that the patients were engaged in special activities such as exercising three times a day besides following their normal day-to-day activities to maintain and develop muscle strength. It soon became evident that these women found it difficult to perform their daily exercise routines with their regular clothing and were looking for custom made clothing they could wear all day long in comfort and avoid the problems that arose while exercising. The study specifies the requirements that must be met to satisfy both generic and specific needs. Considering all these aspects some adaptive clothing solutions were proposed to support daily exercising activity with respect to comfort, convenience, health and safety, as well as socio-cultural and psychological needs. Originality/value The area of fusing generic and specific features to support the daily exercising needs of muscular dystrophy victims is an untouched field of experimentation and being a need of the disabled, the present study marks a milestone on the way to a novel area of apparel design, besides exploring a new field of research.
Clothing can serve as a means of conveying to others the equal status in life which disabled women enjoy, as this will promote their self-confidence, self-esteem and make them feel that they are also a part of the community. When taking a holistic approach towards disability rehabilitation and implementation of an acceptable social model in disability care, it becomes apparent that the clothing related issues of women living with disability have not been addressed properly. Therefore it has become an essential need with a high demand among disabled women to fulfil in the current day society. The main objective of the study was to identify the clothing related barriers faced by those women living with disabilities in Sri Lanka and to make recommendations for further research. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted to identify the clothing barriers. Following the purposive sampling technique, ten respondents were selected. Content analysis technique was used for data analysis. Key barriers were identified and needed adaptive clothing types were categorized based on the women's activities and daily routine. It was found that the Sri Lankan retail sector did not cater to most of these requirements while adaptive clothing brands did not cater to some of the major problems faced by women with disabilities. Further studies are recommended relating to the development of new adaptive clothing products.
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