Mom is 87 years old. She has a stroke 6 months ago. She walks with a walker and has balance issues. She will only take one shower a week. It is so hard to get her to get up and shower. She will not wash herself not even her face. She is mad at us ( daughters) for making her shower. She always tells us she has a headache. I feel guilty for not keeping my mother clean. She is get UTI so often. She wears depends unwear. She cannot change her depends herself. We had home health coming in but mom fired them. We have them coming now but insurance will only pay for 25 trips and we are using them to do blood work and start IVs for medication to help with UTI. Mom needs a walk in shower or a walk in tub. Finically can not afford to buy one. Please help any advice would be appreciated.
It's applied like a shampoo, worked in, then towel dried if desired.
The wipes are a good idea too; they leave a clean, refreshing feeling. I even carry some in the car; they're not as medicinally smelling as the hand sanitizer that I use a lot, especially when shopping.
There could be legitimate reasons she doesn't want to shower: (a) modesty (b) cold - unless you have heated towels and (c) balance issues.
Do you have a seat that extends over the bathtub so she can get in and out safely without standing and having to balance while she lifts one leg then the other into the tub?
I would focus more on keeping the Depends changed regularly and keep that area clean - given the UTIs, it sounds like that's more important.