When seniors have dementia, they may start to have trouble with everyday tasks. Sometimes the mental hurdle is the bigger issue, rather than physically having trouble with the task. A common problem for seniors with dementia is that they may start to experience resistance about taking a bath or shower. Home care assistance can be a huge help with this problem, and professional caregivers can help family members to understand what might be going on.
Why Do Seniors Resist Bathing?
There are some common threads when seniors with dementia decide that they don’t want to bathe anymore. The first is often that they feel uncomfortable with the idea of needing help taking a shower or bath. As they get used to help from home care providers, they can ease past this concern. Other common issues include forgetting that they need to bathe, fearing injury in the shower stall, or not remembering how to bathe anymore.
Don’t Make it an Argument
It’s really important that family members don’t make this a true battle. Making bathing an argument or a fight just increases problems related to fear or discomfort, which means it’s going to be that much more difficult for seniors to bathe comfortably. Logic isn’t going to work for seniors with dementia, either, so it’s best to try some different solutions and home care assistance can help with that.
Set the Bathroom Up for Success
Proper preparation in advance can reduce the resistance seniors with dementia feel about bathing. Making sure the shower has shampoo, soap, conditioner, and other necessary items helps so much. It can also help to choose products that seniors enjoy using, that smell good, and that help them to feel good after they are done bathing. Make sure towels are in place and get the bathroom warmed up so it’s comfortable. Home care providers can help seniors with all of these tasks, getting them prepared and easing them into the bathing process.
Address Safety Concerns
Reducing safety hazards in the bathroom and tub is going to go a long way toward helping seniors with dementia feel safe while bathing. Non-slip mats, shower chairs, and grab bars are great for a start. Looking at individual concerns that seniors have about bathing can make it even easier to address all of the potential hazards.
Get Help with Bathing Tasks
As soon as seniors have trouble with the idea of bathing, that’s the perfect time to seek out home care assistance. Bringing in the professionals right away can help everyone involved to avoid a lot of frustration and it can solve problems before they begin. Home care providers can take the guesswork out of getting a bathing routine down that helps seniors with dementia feel safe and clean.
Seniors with dementia don’t want to make life difficult for the family members they love. When they face issues like resistance to bathing, there is a reason behind it. Home care assistance can help families figure out what is going on and offer them the practical help that they need.
If you or an aging loved one are considering home care assistance in Darien, IL, please contact the caring staff at Suburban Home Care today at (630) 964-9000.
There are several great reasons why Suburban Home Care® should be your choice for quality homecare. All of our Certified Nursing Assistants and Home Health Aides are screened, trained, bonded and insured.
Every family needs to be aware that almost every Homeowner’s insurance policy specifically excludes anyone working within your home. If the person you hire becomes injured while working for you, you will become personally responsible for all of their medical bills. This has left several families very vulnerable when their caregiver injured themselves at their home.
The potential to lose everything you have worked so hard to achieve seems an unnecessary risk. Every one of Suburban Home Care®’s employees are completely covered by insurance so you and your loved ones can relax knowing that if something unforeseen happens to your caregiver, they are completely covered by insurance.
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