Fidget Aprons help Dementia patients.

My childhood experience of watching my grandmother’s helpless deterioration due to AD ignited my interest in helping not only AD patients but their family and caretakers. That is why I created my own design of fidget aprons for patients suffering with dementia, similar to those used for brain trauma.

With the help of my maternal grandmother, I hand-sewed aprons for the UC Davis Hospice Program and Gateway Hospice in Pennsylvania. Fidget or activity aprons have unique sensory attachments to help calm the patients. For example, buttons and zippers offer tactile reminders of past clothing while fuzzy accessories elicit playfulness and warmth. I faced unique challenges such as finding safe objects that prevent swallowing hazards, ensuring secure attachments, and building durable aprons.

Some nursing home directors did challenge me about the safety and questioned the efficacy of these aprons in the beginning. However, with persistence we found more receptive organizations. We eventually produced over 50 aprons due to high demand and positive feedback.

I was surprised to be asked by Montgomery College in Maryland to present my AD project as a tutorial for their students in an entrepreneurial course in March, 2021. I learned so much about the potential benefits of a simple tool such as fidget aprons, but I also realized the need for better scientific research in learning the true efficacy of such interventions.