A Caregiver’s Guidance on Bathing for Alzheimer’s Patients (1)

If you know somebody with dementia or Alzheimer’s, you might say, “It is the least I can do.” You may feel that he or she gave so much of his or her time in you youth when you were a baby, and then on into you teenage years, as well. You might even think about the period when even into young adulthood he or she still lent me his or her time and understanding. When your loved one have Alzheimer’s (a form of dementia) it is devastating to the family. As the disease gets poorer, he or she may become unable to carry out basic activities and daily routines. Before long, he or she might be unable to clothe him or herself or bathe and will become totally dependent upon the family.

A number of caregivers might say something like, “I took care of him for several years before his death and I did have to regularly bathe him. It was a hard situation, and so I understand what many people are going through right now, whether you’re a family member that has taken in a relative with Alzheimer’s disease, or another form of dementia, or if you’re just a caregiver that gives generously of your time”. You might have to read up on the topic and get a lot of advice when the disease was first diagnosed. It is a new experience for most, and it might be hard to understand the idea of giving a full-grown person a bath. Of course, you might have bathed your children in years past, but this is different. What is the most dignified way to handle this situation? Are there any safety issues you should know about?

Education and experience are your best teachers in this case. You should look up a professional caregiver’s advice, but also put your heart into the job and learn new things along the way. One of the first things that you might learn is that the experience is whatever you put into it. You do not want it be a forced chore that makes you both uncomfortable. Do your best to make the activity enjoyable and relaxing.

You must remember that you as the caregiver are the one required to set up the schedule of bath time. A patient with dementia may forget to take bath, may not recognize the need or even forget how to do it. So it’s not only a caregiver’s job to bathe a person, but also to plan convenient and regular times to do so. You have to set the schedule and stick to it.

At times it might be a test to get your loved one motivated into wanting to take a bath. There are times when he or she will resist, which make the experience frustrating. What you can study, however, is that when you associate bath time with a social activity, it can prompt a person to want to wash. You may tell him or her that you have to wash first before he or she goes out to dinner or has a visitor over. That positive reinforcement makes him or her more agreeable to bathing. You should not force your loved one to wash; just try to make it an enjoyable experience. Rather than criticize a patient because of their cleanliness, try and use praise and encouragement to get them to wash.

Some advice is to not use showers for bath time unless the patients have been used to it for quite a while. A shower can be alarming and the person’s comfort is the most important factor.