Dressing: It’s Something We Do Every Day, But What Happens When We Need Help?

By Maria Basso Lipani, LCSW
© 2008-2010

Summary: Dressing is one of the four major Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) along with bathing, toileting and grooming.  We dress ourselves every day without much thought beyond what we’d like to wear.  However, many injuries can impact our ability to dress independently;  as we get older, these injuries are more likely.  A fall in the bathroom or out on the street can cause us to break a bone; in an instant, dressing becomes significantly more challenging and we may require assistance with this most basic task.

Dear Maria: My elderly aunt, whom I adore, lives 500 miles from me.  She recently fell and broke her shoulder.  She’s now in a sling and finding it hard to manage on her own at home.  Most things she’s able to do with one hand, but dressing has become quite a challenge.   I guess that old saying is true – you really don’t know what  you’ve got until it’s gone!  Obviously she can’t go on like this and so I’m wondering  - would her insurance plan pay for someone to come into her home to assist her with dressing?  Kristen, Bethlehem, PA

Dear Kristen: You raise an important issue that most people don’t consider unless or until they  require assistance with dressing!   Unfortunately, it’s also one without a simple answer.

If the insurance that you’re speaking of is Medicare, I can assure you that it would absolutely not cover the cost of sending someone to help her.  Medicare guidelines are very strict and in-home assistance is only offered when the patient has what is known as a “skilled need” that is, one that requires the assistance of a nurse and not a lay person.  If your aunt has a supplemental insurance policy it might be worth a call to the company, but I would expect the same answer.  The only type of insurance plan that might cover this kind of help would be a long-term care insurance plan.   If she has one, let this be the first call.

If your aunt is not able to get help with dressing from a supplemental or long-term care insurance plan, the only other option would be to hire a home attendant  to help her.  However, she should know that most home care agencies require a minimum number of hours of help – typically that number is four.  If your aunt is unable to afford this or unwilling to have this amount of help each day, the next best thing would be to see if she could enlist the help of a neighbor or several neighbors until her shoulder is healed.