Better Hospital Gowns? All Ages Will Be Thrilled!

Click on this image to check out images of the well-designed new gowns. With thanks to the Henry Ford Health System.

If you are like my parents, me, or people of almost any age, you HATE hospital gowns.

Sometimes putting on or wearing the gowns is worse than the test or the hospital visit. If you have ever helped an aging parent or other elder get in and out of bed with one of those gowns — or take a walk in a hospital corridor — you know how they keep opening up so a patient feels exposed. Currently these gowns are designed to make it easy and simple to examine a person, but not to make a person feel comfortable.

Well now there’s reason to hope that this situation may be improved.

Students working on a prototype gown. Click on this image to read more. With thanks to Ball State University.

According to an article in Kaiser Health News, some hospitals are trying to update the design and make patients feel less uncomfortable and frustrated. In Pursuit of Patient Satisfaction, Hospitals Update the Hated Gown reporter Shefali Luthra describes some of the ways that hospitals, including are trying to redesign the gowns, which are designed. Designers are taking patient comfort, color, and fabric into consideration.

Some hospitals have asked the students at local design schools to help. The Cleveland Clinic consulted fashion Diane von Furstenberg — probably the world’s greatest expert on simply designed garments.