A collaboration between Dakota State University and LifeScape is looking to innovative clothing to protect workers. They’re looking to a common material: plastic.
LifeScape workers deal with biting, scratching or pinching from maladaptive behaviors daily. To protect direct care staff from such behaviors, the LifeScape Foundation raised $50,000 and asked DSU to create lightweight, discreet protective clothing.
That’s coming in the form of protective plastic plates thought up by LifeScape Occupational Therapist Arlen Klamm. The idea was passed on to DSU professor Justin Blessinger, who worked with students to refine the design by contouring it to the human body. That form offers better protection and maintains comfortability and clothing ventilation.
Jessica Wells is the President of LifeScape Foundation. At a press conference, she called the partnership a win-win for both groups.
“But what we are super excited about is being able to invest in students and the opportunities that they have and the staff and faculty to be able to take their ideas and translate it into, for us taking caring for our staff better, which translates into a better quality of life, better quality of care for the people that we support," Wells said. "LifeScape’s vision is to be an innovative organization and to provide that exceptional service and that creative solutions to the different varied needs and the complex care that people need across their lifespan.”
She added that collaborations like this one are about working towards the same goal of improving lives.
Josiah Copeland is a freshman computer science major who’s helped work on the project the last eight weeks. He said it’s not a finished product yet; they still need to troubleshoot the 3D printing, wearability, size and the material.
“This plastic is pretty tough, but what we’ve been trying to do is find that plastic that’s sturdy enough but then also just flexy enough where it might not cause as much injury," Copeland said. "But then at the same time, it’s also a comfortable padding where it’s not going to physically harm the wearer by just like pinching points or whatever the cause may be.”
Ten prototype garments are going to be assessed by LifeScape employees this fall, and then further modifications and designs are planned for next year. The plan is if successful enough – it could be scaled and manufactured for other community support providers nationwide.
