Медицина/Терапия

Associate Professor Belay V.I., student Savelyeva A.A.

South-Russia State University of Economics and Service

Complex approach to the problem of development of versatile clothing for disabled people

A plenty of problems confront people with disabilities which result in limited opportunities in the formation of their active life position. These problems can be infinitely spoken about but they will not become less numerous and will not lose their urgent character. One of them is the selection of comfortable, functional and aesthetically attractive clothing for people traveling with the help of a wheelchair, which can be adequate to the system "disabled person - clothing - environment".

The centralized manufacture of fashionable clothing that meets the complex of specific requirements in the process of formation of an attractive image of wheelchair users is a complex and serious problem as well.

Currently, the few firms that are engaged in the development and manufacture of clothing for people with disabilities, in particular, orthopedic limitations, work in the conditions of almost complete absence of the specifications and technical standards which would clearly define requirements applicable to this type of clothing and its manufacture.

Its place in the general classification of clothing has not been defined as well. On the one hand, clothing for people with disabilities can not be classified as domestic, because it must meet a number of requirements of specific functionality. On the other hand, it is not special clothing, as its purpose is not only “to protect humans from dangerous, harmful and other environmental factors, to ensure safe working conditions and preserve human health, but also to be utilized practically throughout the waking hours”.

The main objective of the complex researches conducted at the department "Modeling and Design" of South-Russia State University of Economics and Services is to develop a functional and aesthetically harmonized versatile clothing for disabled people traveling with a wheelchair (some of them having medical or therapeutic effect).

All researches are conducted in accordance with the general model of the design process of versatile adaptive clothing for disabled people that includes six stages:

1. Development of a full range of articles for different purposes, different temperature regimes and weather conditions;

2. Development of techniques for determining baseline data and initial developments of rational designs that meet high comfort, the harmonization of the image and help improve the psycho physiological condition of disabled people;

3. Development of recommendations for the selection of rational package of materials for manufacturing articles (sets) for various purposes, when used in a variety of weather conditions and temperature regimes;

4. Development of recommendations for the use of non-traditional (new) types of interlining materials and accessories for the manufacture of clothing for disabled people;

5. Development of a technique of designing aesthetically harmonized versatile clothing for disabled people;

6. The development of the process of industrial production of functional, aesthetically harmonized versatile clothing for wheelchair users.

. This model is common for consumers of different sex and age groups with different degrees of disabilities and restricted abilities to self-service, who has to use various types of wheelchairs and lead different lifestyle.

The formalization of the initial information in working out each stage of the design and creating a formalized description of the vehicle design process by means of specialized mathematical models and mathematical dependences will help to develop a new concept of the through automated design process of adaptive clothing for disabled people.

Studies have been conducted since 2004 as part of the state budgetary research work and are complex, because the primary aim is to design and develop the process of industrial manufacture of adaptive, aesthetically harmonized versatile clothing for both disabled men and women of different age groups.

All the sociological and anthropometric studies are conducted at the sanatorium "Forest Glade" in Pyatigorsk, Stavropol Territory in the neurological department of rehabilitation patients with consequences of injuries and diseases of the spine and spinal cord.

Researches on the development of adaptive clothing for men, wheelchair users, are being conducted with the direct participation of specialists of the Stavropol Orthopaedic Enterprise.

Currently, to develop functional and aesthetically harmonized clothing for women of the same category the researchers closely cooperate with “The center of designing footwear for special purposes” ORTOMODA.

They have already gained some experience in designing and manufacturing industrial clothing for men, wheelchair users.

Development of adaptive clothing as commodity and industrial product is impossible without a comprehensive account of all its specific properties and functions. For this purpose, basing on the results of sociological research, the recommendations of medical personnel and the study of regulatory and technical literature, it became possible to determine a period of a continuous stay of the person in a wheelchair and the basic function of adaptive clothing, to identify negative factors influencing the physiological state of disabled people, and to form a set of special requirements and performance quality indices of adaptive clothing for its manufacture.

In order to determine accurate initial information about individual peculiarities of the wearer’s figures and for the purpose of designing clothes the researchers are conducting studies on the development of the methods of obtaining three-dimensional geometric model of the dummy, which simulates a breadboard model of a person sitting in a wheelchair. They will help to receive primary sweep clothes by the automated deployment of three-dimensional shape onto a plane.

One important task in designing clothes for people with physical disabilities is to create a comfortable microclimate between the skin and the clothes. To create a formalized description of the thermal processes, a concept of a mathematical model describing the thermal condition at the expense of the reaction of the human skin on contact with the texture of garment fabric. These studies have provided a basis for the development of recommendations in the rational choice of package materials for industrial manufacture of men’s wear

Specific features of lifestyles and physical activity of men, wheelchair users, were taken into account when developing rational constructive and decorative peculiarities of the pattern design and identifying structural and ergonomic compliance of adaptive clothing to the sizes and shapes of the wearers. Taking into account the conditions of life, analysis of the basic movements and ergonomic postures of disabled people, the information about the sites of clothing which are exposed to pressure, rupture and abrasion, as well as the wishes and recommendations of medical personnel formed the basis for developing a rational construction of a model set of adaptive clothing for men with disabilities. The researchers have suggested a method of calculating the design parameters of the placement of the knee tuck and under knee cut, as well as lengths of pants and a mathematical model of dependence of the lengths of the midline of the topside and underside parts of the trousers and the method of calculating the sites of corrections of the construction parameters.

To determine the efficiency of adaptive clothing the method of estimating the impact of the construction and properties of the package of materials of adaptive trousers on the physiological condition of a person based on the conductivity of the peripheral nerves has been suggested for the first time.

Research-based design and construction documentation for the industrial manufacture of male set of adaptive clothing was tested, presented and became the winner of the municipal tender of grants of social value in Stavropol. A collection of men's outfits, designed on the basis of this documentation was awarded by diploma "For an interesting constructive design of models" and highly appraised both by the jury of the First All-Russian competition of professional fashion designers and designers of clothing for disabled people ("Special Fashion", Moscow, November 2009), and by the majority of men with disabilities who came to the contest as models or the spectators.