Many more aging adults than you might think, avoid bathing alone. Your senior might have developed some workarounds that have kept you from noticing that anything has changed. The sooner that you figure out what’s creating the situation, the sooner you can resolve it.
Pain Can Be a Big Contributing Factor
If it’s painful for your aging family member to bend, stand, or sit for too long, then bathing or showering can actually hurt, too. Pain is a big reason that people avoid specific activities. She might not share this information with you because it can be embarrassing to admit that something that she has done for years is now something that she avoids because it hurts too badly.
Fear Is Also a Motivator
As embarrassing as it is to admit that bathing hurts, it can be just as embarrassing to admit that there’s anything about bathing that makes your senior afraid. A fear of falling or of becoming incapacitated when in the shower or tub can make your aging family member avoid bathing. She may also become afraid that she can’t get out of the tub herself or that bathing will be uncomfortable for her.
Bathing Could Simply Be Inconvenient or Exhausting
Depending on your elderly family member’s health conditions, bathing can be inconvenient or even extremely tiring for her. If that’s the case, then she may also become afraid that she could wear herself out in the bath and be unable to get out. For so many reasons, she may simply think it’s better to save her energy and to avoid bathing or showering completely.
Get to the Bottom of the Issue
If you even suspect that your elderly family member is avoiding bath time, it’s time to get to the root cause. You can get help with bathing and other personal care tasks from home care providers. They can also help you to spot the signs that can lead you to the full cause of the issues that your elderly family member is having. It’s not always one cut and dry problem that is making issues. It’s often a combination of situations that add up and create a bigger problem.
Once you know why bathing has become such an issue for your elderly family member, you can start to find solutions that will work for her and for you. Getting used to those solutions might take some time, so remember to be patient and don’t push your elderly family member to adapt too quickly.
