Survival Mode Skills
Wipe down groin area
Genitals first, front to back, underneath testicles and finish wiping to anus to waist. Use separate side of the wash cloth. fold in 4 and use tag to identify first side used
Wipe down lymphatic drainage areas. Please see diagram; Top to bottom.
Behind the ears and down the neck to below the collarbone and into the armpits
Armpits should use 2-3 minutes of rinsing and soaping to help remove sweat and bacteria
Front pelvis area, behind the knees and tops of thighs where is connects and folds as you bend. (I know you missed this in your groin wipe down)
Finally tops and bottoms and appendages
Face (new cloth)
Hands, under running water for 30 sec using cloth to scrub nails.
Feet :(inspect, trim nails and wipe and dry)
The term survival mode was coined after I came to the idea that adult life skills or (ADL’s) should not be moralized. We coined the term ADL in therapeutic language and institutional speak, but we never quite get into why we need to maintain certain habits, skills and tools to walk our day to day life. Please keep in mind that there may be blocks to someone say “Taking a shower” such as lack of motivation, energy, knowledge or fear of doing it poorly or not well enough and therefore elect- not at all. For some, ADL’s were not taught to us by our caregivers, or we lacked proper adult support to help us learn these skills.