My mom will be 90 this year, lives in an Independent Living facility; we moved her from her rather isolated home after social isolation, panic attacks, labile BP and several trips to the ER exhausted us all and made us realize that living alone, even with aids, was not a good option. Further testing revealed that she has a "mild cognitive impairment, but not dementia". Mom now has a UTI; she's had a couple in the past couple of years. This one is MRSA based, very worrisome. I noticed that last time she was in the Hospital for a pleural effusion, when she would use the bathroom, she would just rinse her fingertips, no soap. At the time, it didn't seem worthwhile to argue about. But this memory came back to me yesterday after the doctor called to tell me what kind of infection this was. I called Mom and talked to her about hand washing. She says that she ALWAYS uses soap, that in the hospital, she was "different". I put this info out to the family, and just got an email back from my sister in law, who takes her out to eat often. She says she's NEVER seen my mother wash her hands with soap in a public restroom. How would you address this issue? I've already emailed her doctor and the geriatric psychiatrist who see her; can you think of any other strategies to use?
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