Changing clothes and bathing regularly can become a battleground for you and your elderly loved one. Understanding why she might be resisting these activities can help you to find a solution that makes this less of an issue between the two of you.

Your Loved One Doesn’t Think She Needs To

As your elderly loved one ages, she may start to lose some of her senses. One of the senses that can affect her ability to determine if she should bathe or change her clothes is her sense of smell. Losing that sense means that your loved one doesn’t have any sort of signal to herself that there’s an issue that she needs to correct.

Your Loved One Feels out of Control

If your elderly loved one has been independent for a long time, she may start to resent losing some of her independence or needing additional assistance. This can manifest in her taking control in other, smaller ways. One way that this is extremely common for loved ones to assert themselves is with either choosing not to bathe or to change clothes.

Your Loved One Thinks She Did

Another area where your loved one can get into a problem area with bathing and changing her clothes is her memory that she’s already done that recently. That memory can be a faulty one, however. One way you can manage this is to help your loved one to use a calendar to keep track of the days that she’s had a shower. She can see at a glance what day it is and whether she needs to bathe that day or not.

Your Loved One Is Depressed

Depression can cause your loved one to have a lack of interest in most activities that she normally handles well, like bathing. Learning the signs of depression can help you to spot an issue much more quickly. If you do suspect your loved one is depressed, contact her doctor and begin working out a treatment plan for her.

Hiring senior care providers can be one solution that helps both you and your elderly loved one. Work with her doctor to find additional solutions.

If you or an aging loved one are considering senior care in The Energy Corridor, TX, please call the caring staff at At Your Side Home Care. We will answer all of your senior care questions. Call today: (832) 271-1600.

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Donna Wrabel, LMSW

Co-Owner at At Your Side Home Care

For most of us, the word "home" evokes warm feelings of comfort, security and well-being. For older adults, home also means holding tight to cherished memories and maintaining self-esteem and independence. When illness, injury or age make life a little more challenging, remaining at home in a comfortable, familiar environment encourages recovery and enhances the quality of life. Home can be defined as a private residence, an independent or assisted living facility or even a short term stay in the hospital, we recognize the additional benefits provided by a personal, professional assistant.

Our Certified Nurse Aides, 24-Hour Live-in Assistants and Home Health Aides are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We also provide the security and confidence of 24-hour Telephone Assistance, so fast, reliable help is always available when it's needed. To learn more about our homecare services see our homecare services page.

Different people need different levels of homecare. To meet the requirements of our clients, At Your Side Homecare maintains consistent staffing levels of caring professionals. Homecare service is available for as little as a few hours a week, or as many as 24 hours a day, seven days a week

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