Dressing With Dignity: Can Adaptive Apparel Promote ADL Success?

Innovative Aging: Dressing With Dignity: Can Adaptive Apparel Promote ADL Success? (Episode 3)

Audio Runtime: 51 Minutes; Learning Assessment Time: 21 Minutes

Nicole Cuervo, founder and CEO of Springrose, joins host Carol Chiang, OTR/L, CAPS, ECHM, CHAMP, to explore how adaptive apparel can make dressing more accessible, dignified, and empowering for your patients. Drawing on her background in human-centered design and deep collaboration with rehab professionals, Nicole shares how innovative clothing solutions are transforming an often-overlooked ADL. She and Carol dig into clinical challenges, emotional impacts, and practical strategies you can use today. Join us as we rethink dressing as more than a task, it's a pathway to independence and identity.

This is an audio-only course. Additional materials are available for download within the course. To receive continuing education credit, complete the course and the accompanying quiz.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the evidence supporting adaptive apparel as a clinical solution for supporting dressing-related independence and participation in people with physical or cognitive limitations
• Determine situations in which adaptive apparel provides the most benefit to individuals experiencing dressing challenges due to pain, range-of-motion limitations, tremors, or caregiver reliance
• Solve patient case scenarios that involve selecting and clinically applying adaptive apparel to address dressing-related performance barriers in ADLs

This is an audio-only course. Additional materials are available for download within the course. To receive continuing education credit, complete the course and the accompanying quiz.

Guest Bio: Nicole Cuervo is the founder and CEO of Springrose, a company that designs adaptive intimates inspired by her grandmother’s experience with chronic pain and arthritis. Trained in human-centered design, she has worked with government agencies and nonprofits to develop more inclusive products and services. Nicole holds degrees from Brown University, the Kellogg School of Management, and the McCormick School of Engineering; she is named inventor on five adaptive apparel patents. Since starting Springrose, she has collaborated with occupational and physical therapists, partnered with other adaptive equipment companies, participated in the Remarkable accelerator for disability tech, and has been a guest lecturer at multiple occupational therapy programs. Her work has been recognized with honors, including the 2022 Kellogg Social Entrepreneur of the Year and the Chicago Innovation Up-and-Comer Award.

Disclosure: Our guest is affiliated with a company that develops technology relevant to the topic. While we won’t be endorsing any specific product, listeners should be aware of this connection as part of our commitment to transparency.