How can I get Mom to once again follow the PT's instructions?

Is mother now in a rehabilitation center, or a transitional care unit? (These are sometimes housed within a nursing home.) There are rules about how long Medicare will cover this placement. It is not indefinite in any case. Medicare does not cover nursing home care.

It sounds like mother needs to have long term care, after the rehab is over. Medicaid pays for that kind of care, for individuals who qualify for it. If mother has some money to pay for it for herself for a while, then Medicaid would take over after her money is gone.

Let the therapists do what they can to work with your mother. They are professionals and are trained to encourage cooperation. If poor Mom just can't do it, so be it.

Start now to look into long-term care for mother. It sounds like she needs it.

If there is a social worker or patient advocate at the rehab facility where your mom is staying, ask for a conference. Ask them what they feel is in her future, and a time frame so that you know what to expect. You are correct that Medicare will not pay for her therapy if she is not making "progress" in their opinion. This happened with my MIL after a hospital stay. She became a private pay patient after is was determined that she was not progressing with the therapy. If her funds run out, then Medicaid would take over, as Jeannegibbs said.

thank you for the feedback

Jeanne has covered the basics. Don't beat yourself up over this. If you can go to feed her every meal that is helpful but if you can't face it every meal don't do it. Would she eat better if she was alone in her room? Talk to the staff and see if they have any suggestions. It is part of the staffs responsibility to see their patients are fed. having a stroke on top of an AZ diagnosis has probably advanced her dementia and the PTs can only do what they can do. there is clearly no way you can handle this alone so if you don't have a whole gang p\of family members ready to help there is no question of your doing it alone. Was she in a memory care unit before the stroke? can she go back there and don't worry about the PT if she won't co-operate. come back and tell us as things move along

She was living at her home wih my brother. He works so I did the cooking,washing, cleaning up etc for her. We thought she'd be home by now as her illness is not life threating. I want to do good by her I want her home even tho she was a pain.

But I would like to motivate her to follo the PT's instructions

I think it would be quite difficult to motivate a person with AZ. If she has expressed a desire to go back to your home, you could try telling her that she needs to get stronger first, and talk to her therapists to work out some physical goals for her to reach. My father had a stroke, but he was mentally sharp, so he was self motivated to regain physical skills. Even with his desire to get better, the PT was still hard work for him. Depending on the severity of your mom's AZ, it could be very hard for her to remember what she is working for, and it is making her tired.