to wonder why some people want a strip wash?

[sweetlilacsinspring]

I am working a bit for a home care agency. One of the things that's surprised me is how many people don't want a bath or shower, even when they have a specially adapted wet room, but a strip wash on the bed using soap and flannels. You can never get the soap off properly and it must be so drying. Plus surely it's itchy and uncomfortable - a shower would be much more refreshing?

Does anybody strip wash instead of showering?

When I was at uni I worked in a care home during the holidays and had similar thoughts to you, sweetlilacsinspring, do you sort of feel that it is a job half done and you'd rather get in there with the shower head? Lol.

I did. Plus the inevitable splashing of water on the bed and paraphenalia that shouldn't be in a bedroom like a flannel.

I know what you mean. I really do.

Sweet, a wash is calmer and more soothing. Showers can be quite powerful and overwhelming to the senses, particularly when you are feeling vulnerable. It helps the client feel more in control.

You can get the soap off - just try not to use too much and include emollient if they have it.

I'm hijacking this useful thread, if I may.

My mum just came home after being in hospital since a stroke. She's doubly incontinent, paralysed down one side (her arm and leg on that side are now bent up like chicken wings ) , and cannot speak at all, or read or write, so we can't communicate.

She gets really upset when she has to be changed or moved at all, and she is terrified of strangers.

The carers my father has booked for her only come for 4 15 minute slots each day, as he can't afford any more than this on their savings, so I think we'll be needing to do a strip wash for her. They just change her and shift her up the bed if she's slipped down, as dad isn't strong enough at 75.

Can anyone advise on the best way to wash her/any pointers, please? And if there's any way of doing a hair wash it would be amazing. Basically, she's bedbound. She went over two months in hospital between hair washes once, and it was horrible - a return to cradle cap, I suppose. There must be some tricks of the trade someone knowledgeable out there can offer, please?!

sorry to hear about your mum Awesome. I've seen this kind of thing used for hair washing in bed, does work pretty well

sorry to hear about your mum awesome

have you spoken to stroke assciation? they are v good

personally, i hate showers; drafty, cold can't wash nethers without flannel etc. much prefer bath or strip wash. shower or bath is a major performance, need lots of help for either

That's gone straight in my amazon basket sallysparrow - thanks!

I think dad has a leaflet, julia, but he's a bit old school and probably hasn't actually asked for help yet. Thanks for the reminder!

Older people would be used to a strip wash standing at the kitchen sink in the days before every home had a bathroom. It was a tin bath in front on the fire once a week and an all over wash (that's what grandma called it) every other day.

Another reason old people might avoid a shower is because they feel the cold more and don't want to get completely wet.

When I gave birth to my eldest (34 years ago!) I was given a bed bath because I was told I wasn't allowed out of bed for 12 hours. I was too shell shocked from the experience of giving birth to complain. I found having to use a bedpan more humiliating than the strip wash.

Awesome - have Social Services assessed your DM for home care? With her level of need she should be having visits of longer than 15 minutes. At the very least, a 30 or 45 minute morning call to allow time for a decent wash, change of clothes and pads and a change of bedsheets as required.

No-one receives more than 4 calls per day but most patients with similar needs to your DM would be having 45 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes at lunchtime, 30 minutes at teatime and 30 minutes at bedtime. Social Services will generally provide care whilst a financial assessment is done, which basically just works out how much your DF should be paying towards DM's care. In my experience, very few people have to pay for 100% of their care, especially people with such a high need as your DM.

The inflatable thingy-mi-bob linked to above is exactly what we would use to wash your DM's hair. You, or your DF, would need to provide one but there should be no issue with the Carers using it so long as they have enough time to do so.

I do think it's awful that some people have only 15 minutes with their Carer - but generally, this is all they have been "allowed" by SS. If the person's need is as basic as help putting on a nightie & making a warm drink then that's fine. With a bedbound person though, SS should definitely be part funding to allow for longer calls.

I can understand why the elderly prefer having a strip wash. There is less moving around and less risk of falls and they get to stay in their comfort zone.

I'm not a fan of them.
It always seems a bit hygenic to me to transfer sweat onto a flannel, rinse it in the water, then put the same water onto another part of the body.
How is that getting you clean?

My SIL (not elderly - 50 ish) is always talking about strip washes. For some reason it makes me feel a bit queasy. I am sure IABU, but hey ho!

Losingmybelt done properly, you have two bowls and three flannels!

If there is only one bowl and one flannel available you start with face, then hands & work your way through from clean places to less clean places .

My DM broke her hip before Christmas and was in hospital for 7 weeks. She only had a strip wash during that time - even when she was mobile enough to use the bathroom. No one offered to help her shower and she wouldn't ask. Then she was discharged, to a house with only a bath, which she wasn't able to step in to because of post-op restrictions. So strip washing was all that was available to her. In all that time she had her hair washed once - in the hospital, and that was because a mobile hairdressers came round and mum paid for a wash and cut.
I ended up helping her wash her hair over the sink at home as it didn't seem to occur to the visiting carers that it needed doing and once again Mum wouldn't ask.
I enquired about having the bath removed and a level access shower installed through her LA but it was going to take months. Managed to find a plumber to do it privately within 6 weeks, so at last Mum can shower again. But that was 5 months of only strip washing - not through choice and Social Services didn't seem to care - so clearly showering is'n't considered a priority.

Strip washes were the thing when I was a child, growing up in the 60s, so not the sole experience of the elderly. The bathroom had no basin, and water had to be specially heated by the coal fire, so baths were weekly and water shared. The only heated room was the living room, so even the kitchen strip wash was unpleasant.

I've never revelled in either baths or showers, though I do take them. I still associate them with discomfort, if I analyse it. I still strip wash often.

Fear of washing is a dementia symptom.

@Supersimkin2

Fear of washing is a dementia symptom.

Not sure that is the case with most people who prefer to strip wash.

I got something called a shampoo cap for my mum when she had surgery on her face to remove cancer. She was desperate for a hair wash but couldn't get her wound wet. You don;t have to use water/rinse hair.

In that situation it can take a lot of energy.
A shower is obviously quicker under normal circumstances.

If you're going to resurrect a 7 year old thread you could at least read it properly? 👏
I didn't realise it was a zombie, so fucking annoying.

It's pain OP....you think it's 'really easy' for them to get in the shower/wet room but when you're in pain, it's really not. Just getting out of bed or off your chair hurts.