I have a background in Physical Therapy as a career and I am very proud to say that I continue to work in a rehab setting mostly on weekends. When I was growing up, I had that curious fascination with the way the human body weakens during an illness. I felt like there was a way for someone to get back on their feet through exercises. I had made up my mind by the time I graduated from high school: I wanted to pursue a career in Physical therapy. It has been a long journey, nearly 30 years.

As a therapist, I had the opportunity to work in different settings including hospitals, nursing rehabilitation, assisted living facilities, Sport medicine center. While working in these facilities, I was able to observe how the patient's gowns function and “malfunction”. For example, the caregivers would complain about the sizes, or the way some body parts of these patients would just hang there. If a patient did not have their own outfits to wear, they had no choice but to wear the famous hospital gowns. 

Now, some facilities would not allow us, the rehab staff, to take the patients out of their room wearing their hospital gowns. Do you want to know why? Yes, you guessed it! It did not give proper coverage and most centers, whether hospitals or rehab, have modesty protection policies which also intertwine with patient’s right for dignity. In this case, we had to resort to seeing the patient bedside to protect their privacy. 

After years of seeing how the traditional hospital gowns operate, another idea came to mind. I got home one night and grabbed a pencil, and I started drawing another design of a hospital gown. This design would resemble a bit the traditional gown but with a revolutionary characteristic: the back is opened but it is done as an envelope style with velcro enclosures to give full coverage of the backside. It also has a V neck (front/back) to minimize that choke feels when the patient is lying down.

Our gown is very easy to slip in and out. The sleeves are opened with velcros enclosures to facilitate IV lines. It has a front pocket for a heart monitor. It comes out in different sizes and length that will reach a few inches below the knees. The back enclosures were created in such a way that during toileting or hygiene, the envelope can stay wide open so it could be removed very swiftly. If the caregiver wanted to keep the gown on after a change of diapers for example, He/she would just close the back with the velcros. 

This model was envisioned to make it possible for a patient who had no clothes with them in the hospital or rehab to even venture outside the room to go to the therapy department. They are fully covered from the backside and don’t have to worry about body parts being exposed causing them to feel embarrassed. With our gown, they would be more motivated in ambulating in the hospital hallways as well as in the therapy department because they have their modesty protected. 

The fabric is made with 100% cotton that is lightweight and breathable. It also comes with nice pastel colors that is always a good mood lifter. And who says good mood, sets a positive tone towards recovery!