My mom got to the point where she couldn't get in and out of the shower anymore either.
I'd put towels all over the kitchen floor and get her butt naked in her wheelchair. I put her in front of the kitchen sink and hosed her with the kitchen sprayer. I made sure the room was nice and warm. I shampooed her that way, too. The towels on the floor were soaked, I was soaked and I had yet another load of laundry, but my mom laughed through the whole thing and really seemed to enjoy it. She would tell me she felt refreshed. Yeah, it's a pain with the clean up, but I figured that she was cleaner than she would be with a sponge bath alone and she actually looked forward to it most of the time. I have good memories of those times with her. It was one of the few times my mom laughed a lot, so...yeah. It was worth it.
Yes they are designed exactly for this reason, when a person is bed ridden. It is made so you can effectively care for your loved one's hygiene with reassurance. This product is used in LTH all over. Just ask the pharmacy about the product and they will be happy to go over it with you.
Yes there is a product which is excellent I might add. It is called peri-wash, it is very gentle on their skin an they actually have one that you don't have to rinse off to prevent excess friction on their skin.
I'm not sure how your bathroom is. Our house was made in 1974. When it was built , father put a drainage in the middle of the bathroom. When mom got dementia, we had a hard time trying to get her to lift her feet up and over the cement and into the shower. The same applied trying to get her out. In the end, we just showered her in the middle of the bathroom using warm runner from the sink, and pouring it over her with a tupperware. Dad held mom while I washed, soaped and shampooed her.
Eventually she went from walking to bedridden overnight. So, we learned to sponge bathe her.
I've read here that some people set the elderly on the toilet, put towels all around the floor and then "shower" them. It would be cleaner if you use body wash and then rinse them down. When I had an IV in my arm, I TRIED those waterless soap and shampoo. My skin became so dry and my head got so itchy. In the end, I wrapped my arm with plastic, taped it up good, and showered with my arm raised in the air to avoid getting wet. Maybe test the elderly to see if they reacted like I did with these waterless soap/shampoo.. No-Rinse Shampoo, etc...
If you plan to do this ouside the shower/tub, I strongly recommend turning off the air con. It tends to seep under the door and the wet body becomes a shivering body. What makes you sweat river from your face and back, is COMFORTABLE temperature for the one who is being showered.
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I'd put towels all over the kitchen floor and get her butt naked in her wheelchair. I put her in front of the kitchen sink and hosed her with the kitchen sprayer. I made sure the room was nice and warm. I shampooed her that way, too. The towels on the floor were soaked, I was soaked and I had yet another load of laundry, but my mom laughed through the whole thing and really seemed to enjoy it. She would tell me she felt refreshed. Yeah, it's a pain with the clean up, but I figured that she was cleaner than she would be with a sponge bath alone and she actually looked forward to it most of the time. I have good memories of those times with her. It was one of the few times my mom laughed a lot, so...yeah. It was worth it.
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Eventually she went from walking to bedridden overnight. So, we learned to sponge bathe her.
I've read here that some people set the elderly on the toilet, put towels all around the floor and then "shower" them. It would be cleaner if you use body wash and then rinse them down. When I had an IV in my arm, I TRIED those waterless soap and shampoo. My skin became so dry and my head got so itchy. In the end, I wrapped my arm with plastic, taped it up good, and showered with my arm raised in the air to avoid getting wet. Maybe test the elderly to see if they reacted like I did with these waterless soap/shampoo.. No-Rinse Shampoo, etc...
If you plan to do this ouside the shower/tub, I strongly recommend turning off the air con. It tends to seep under the door and the wet body becomes a shivering body. What makes you sweat river from your face and back, is COMFORTABLE temperature for the one who is being showered.