My mum has mid to late stage dementia and lives at home with my dad. They are late 70s.
My dad tries his best to care for her - cooks/cleans/encourages her to take her meds. i visit once a week to give my dad some respite.
Home instead visit every day so my dad can leave the house to go for a walk etc.
My mum is starting to struggle with personal care and wont accept help from anyone. She hasnt had a bath in weeks and we've
all tried to encourage her but shes having none of it.
she complains of pain in her foot, we cant get her to take her socks off, she won't let us or the carers or the chiropodist near. she's not brushing her teeth either.
she changes outfits multiple times a day but sleeps in her day clothes as shes quite confused with time. And she shuts the door and won't let you in to help when she's changing
the carers can't really force her against her will and we're worried for her hygiene.
what can we do. we can't hold her down or force her - she has hit my dad whilst he was trying to look at her foot.
I'm worried for the long term - if she has a sore on her foot it's just going to get worse without intervention.
we've tried all the health care professionals, they are very sympathetic but the advice doesn't really work.
i was actually contemplating sedating her today so that we could look at her foot but I'm sure thats illegal.
we want to support her but its nigh on impossible.
any suggestions please?