My grandmother starts screaming and yelling when in the shower on a chair. How do I bath her?

Kate, as you probably have heard, some elderly people become afraid of water. And sometimes they get too cold during a shower or bath. But you mentioned a shower door, and I wonder if the setup at the SNF was perhaps more open, or had only a curtain. Is it possible that being closed in the shower is making her claustrophobic? I've read on this site about soap that can be applied without rinsing. Maybe you could help your grandmother wash herself in this way while you continue to ask about what happened to scare her off the shower. But she does need to be clean, regardless of whether the "does anything." In the end, you may need to turn it over to a professional and get a home aide to come in a couple of times a week to bathe your grandmother. That's what we did with my mother -- and, believe me, no one in the history of bathing has ever been more resistant or more belligerent about taking a bath than my mother was! Good luck to you.

Forgot to add, this works for anyone with fear of the shower... not just Alz...

Unfortunaltly this happens sometimes with Alz patients...being closed in, and hearing the water sends them into a frenzy....I can tell you what I do, but hopefully others will have suggestions also... I set them on the chair, talking to them the whole time, explaning what is going on... THEN I turn the water on, holding the nozzle away from them, just a little bit at a time....Then wetting her body slowly, talking the whole time, doesn't even have to be about the shower, just talking, but explaining each step, if she can soap herself, then let her,but keep the door open... talking , rinse her explaining what you are doing... To wash hair, I explain what I am doing, getting a clean dry wash cloth to put over her eyes... telling her that will keep the water out of her eyes... then asking her to tip her head back a little, then genlty wetting the hair and then shampooing, talking the whole time.....then rinsing and asking if she is ok, that cloth works good doesn't it, ect..... you may not have the time or patience to do it this way... but it works for me...letting her know each step, reassuring her I am right there, and talking about other things help distract them... you can learn to do this in about ten minutes with practice... and one thing I do also is have a warm towel ready..... hope this helps, let us know how things are going for you... hugs