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Patton320 Asked January 14, 2024

Mom won’t bathe.

My mother is 90 and has been living in an Assisted Living for two years. I started to notice she is not bathing and has issues cleaning herself after using toilet. She is refusing help. Need advice.

Grandma1954 Jan 26, 2024
Your mom needs a higher level of care than what is offered in Assisted Living.
I am surprised they have not discussed this with you.
You can either look into moving her to Memory Care where she will get more attention and the care that is needed for someone with dementia or you can have someone come in and shower her 1 or 2 times a week. That will not take care of her daily hygiene though.
She needs help with toileting, personal care, showering. (Mom pays for the additional caregiver)

lealonnie1 Jan 15, 2024
In your last post you wrote:

My mother lives in a senior living and she started to steal anything she can get her hands on. Her fridge is packed with fruits and muffins that she does not eat. Also I find in her room items that don’t belong to her.

Since you categorized that post under "Alzheimer's and dementia" you are obviously aware your mother is suffering from one of the dementias. Which is why she's stealing and refusing to bathe etc. She belongs in Memory Care Assisted Living now where there's more care given to the elders and a higher ratio of caregivers to residents. She'll need calming meds from her doctor if she's too anxiety ridden to accept help.

Good luck to you.

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funkygrandma59 Jan 15, 2024
Your mothers assisted living facility should offer assistance with bathing as part of their services. and most of the aides should be more than familiar with dealing with folks who don't want to bathe.
And for the in-between showers you can try using the extra large body wipes on her and the waterless shampoo and conditioner caps for her hair. Both work really well and can be ordered on either Walmart.com or Amazon.

Not wanting to bathe can be one of the tell tale signs of dementia as well, so even though you don't mention that, it's very possible that your mother may have some, and will eventually require more help than assisted living can provide.

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