Ruth Namatovu

I am a caregiver with decades of hands-on experience in the caregiving industry in both the United Kingdom and the United States. My work has involved supporting adults with different levels of mobility and assisting them with personal care and incontinence needs.

The idea for Sit & Snap™ came from watching one of my clients struggle to change a conventional pull-up independently. The client used dressing aids to pull down clothing, push off shoes, and guide the pull-up over the feet. The same difficult process had to be repeated to put the shoes and pants or skirt back on. I observed the physical strain, frustration, and loss of dignity this caused. I also knew from my caregiving experience that caregivers often have to remove a client’s shoes and clothing completely to assist with a change. This led me to develop a side-opening garment that could be wrapped around the body and secured without passing it over the feet.

I manually produced prototype samples and tried them with real adult clients during practical caregiving situations. The samples opened, positioned, aligned, fastened, and removed as intended. The closure system worked as expected, demonstrating the practical feasibility of the concept.