How do you deal with hand washing?

You gently lead her to the sink and wash them. You keep baby wipes and Kleenex within her reach at all times. You ask the MD if this is a side effect or something that can be medicated.

Keep hand sanitizer in every room and encourage hand washing as much as possible.

Thank you, we have tried everything mentioned, problem goes back even before the onset, now its an almost a daily problem, sanitizer in every room, hand washing signs posted and verbal encouragement all fail, we are dealing with a very unique, demanding, resistant and stubborn behavior (ingrained personality traits) pattern and are currently checking with her doctor to see what if anything can be done. When you try to help her she gets mad, she can't be questioned or given suggestions without resentment. She is currently on Donepezil and Namenda. Each sufferer brings their own personality and habits to the situation which makes each one unique, one thing will work for one person but not the next, so sad this disease! Thanks again

Hand hygiene is a problem with many older people. Staff at a nearby assisted living will not eat anything that their elderly clients have touched because even those who attempt to keep themselves clean are often not very successful. Even my mother, who is mostly bed bound and doesn't toilet herself, often has gross stuff under her fingernails because she is scratching, picking her nose or sticking her fingers in her dinner.
Keep her nails short if you can. And as Pam says, guide her to the sink and help her wash when she comes into the kitchen. Don't make a fuss about it, just say something like "oh, I'm glad you've come to help, let's get washed up first", help her find the soap and towel and then hand her a clean apron.

For those who have elders as a guest in their homes, there are things you can do to stop anyone from touching your food, and if it's your home, you set the rules and enforce them with consequences if those rules are broken. In order to keep someone from ruining the food you're trying to prepare in your kitchen, there are a number of ways you can keep the person entertained in another room, keeping them out of your kitchen. You really don't want to become infected with what maybe on someone else's hands when you're trying to prepare food, and installing a kitchen door would be a very good start. As for people you don't want touching your food and passing infection on to you or others, you can get creative by thinking outside the box if necessary. When you're preparing food or just serving a meal, you can keep hands out of the food you're trying to serve. I would also like to say but I don't blame anyone for not wanting to eat food touched by someone else, because you never know where their hands I have been or what's on those hands. I used to never give it a second thought until I developed an infection I'm now being treated for for the next two weeks. It's not just the elders you don't want touching your food, it's anyone of any age. This is why food safety gloves are highly recommended. Last I knew they were available in stores

I don't eat out of the jars myself let alone serve to someone else. It's just so frustrating to have her handling everything. Every jar, cupboard, refrig door, oven door, package such as chips etc, ....................she's bent on opening and fingering and dipping into. I am buying a tiny frig for the basement where I can hide things. It's just frustrating. Also I put things up as high as I can :( Just needed to "tell somebody about it..............." Thanks to whoever is taking the time to read this.

If only we could get THEM to wear the gloves, we could strip off the soiled ones after they use the bathroom or cover those questionable fingers when they come into the kitchen. LOL

One thing I had notice with both my sig other and with my Dad is that when they use the bathroom, instead of using the sink in that bathroom, they both will head down to use the kitchen sink to wash their hands. What in the world??? So that means door handles, and stair railing were touched after bathroom use. No wonder the liquid Soft Soap can last years in that bathroom :P

Probably was something they both did in their own childhood. I noticed the same thing on the tv show "Everybody Loves Raymond" as Ray would also use the kitchen sink to wash his hands.

I know the person I care for doesn't wash his hands properly as I frequently find faeces on his towel in the toilet. I keep a towel across the room for myself. Yes I've managed to persuade him to use hot water and antibacterial soap instead of just sticking his hands under the cold tap for a few seconds but he hasn't got the patience to wash or rinse them thoroughly! I have become paranoid about cleaning door handles and anything else he touches, kettle, tea,coffee and sugar canisters etc with antibacterial spray especially after finding faeces on a kitchen cupboard door handle! Showing him the stains on his towel has made no difference!

Marialake, I really like your idea about getting an extra fridge. However, what I would do in your specific case is go ahead with a full-size fridge because you never know when you may need the extra space when you discover your tiny fridge is just too small for possible changing needs, because you could easily outgrow your tiny fridge. This is why I would go ahead with a full-size one. What I would do just in case this person happens to wander off where the other fridge is, you can actually put a lock on the fridge so that it cannot be opened by anyone except whoever has the key. Meanwhile, even if you get another fridge, how are you going to stop the current problem of this person handling the one in the kitchen? You can get a second fridge, but it's not going to stop the person from handling everything in the kitchen. This is where you're going to have to get creative and find clever ways to keep this person out of the kitchen. This is why I thought of the door idea because you can put a lock on that door when you're working in the kitchen or when it's not in use. All you have to do is just locked the door and that person cannot contaminate any food. I also like your idea of storing everything up as high as absolutely possible. If you happen to live in an older home like I do, you may find some of those older homes have overhead cabinets that require you to have a stepstool to access them. These are actually separate overhead cabinets. These are actually handy for keeping extra stuff that's less frequently used. However, in your case, you can store nonperishable food in those cabinets to protect them from contamination. Another thing you can also do is buy a standalone closet like container and store extra food in there. You can also put a lock on that. Another bright idea is to buy some of these huge plastic storage bins with lids. Those particular types of boxes can be stored under a high sitting bed, or even in a closet. These boxes can also be stored on end to save space. If you're into building stuff, you can even start those boxes in the garage with overhead racks. There are many ways you can use these boxes and various ways you can store them. Another thing you can do if you have stuff like potato chips sitting out, you can store them in your cupboard. You can also store them in your bedroom. Depending on how strict you are against people going in your bedroom, this would definitely be a place to put stuff you don't want touched such as shared commodities. I don't know what kind of space you have under your bed, but I would highly recommend a higher setting bed if you don't have much space under there because you can really start a lot under a bed with a lot of space underneath. I have a higher bed myself, and oh the stuff you can get underneath! I actually have two level storage under my bed and it's full. Underneath bedspace is definitely a good place to store extra commodities. If you also have a hidden closet, you can also store commodities in there. Some older homes have secret closets because when some of them were built, families usually head up to 12 kids and they needed the extra space to store goods. Families back then were much bigger than they are now, and some of these older homes would really surprise you.