Pic, what do you mean when you say she has a "great mind"? My mom also still can philosophize (with limited speech due to aphasia) but she can't reason her way out of a paper bag.
Are you seeing dementia and not recognizing it as such?
We have made the daily shower a "religious ritual" in the USA. I was an exchange student in Italy many years ago, and they said "you can smell an American from several feet away because of the soap of the daily bath." I grew up on a farm with no bath or running water, so sponge bathing and daily clean clothes was our custom. I later had a daily shower during the years when I lived in a college dorm and then when I worked. I am now a healthy 80-year old woman and for the past ten years or so, I have taken a warm sponge bath every morning without soap (because of dry skin). I put on clean clothes at least once daily, sometimes more depending on activities. I get into the shower to shampoo my hair (which is long and also dry) about once every ten days and use a little soap on my skin then. I would be less than thrilled to have anyone try to resume the daily shower bath ritual with me no matter how well-intentioned they may be!
Are you seeing dementia and not recognizing it as such?