How do you stop a urine infection in a senior?

See a doctor who can and will prescribe an antibiotic.

Please see a doctor. UTI's seldom go away on their own in our elderly population. I have seen many many seniors with UTI's and often the infection and symptoms cause changes in mental status and can even lead to death.
I understand the concern with antibiotic overuse but "it is what is it" with UTI's in the elderly. I recommend this person be evaluated by her doctor and get an antibiotic after they run a urine culture.
Push fluids (32 - 64oz daily), encourage a schedule to assist with time voiding- take them to the BR after meals etc. Prevent urine becoming stagnant in the bladder by providing hydration to flush it out of bacteria. Also yes, wipe from front to back, Handwashing & using alcohol based hand gel is good practice.
Cranberry pills are used a lot big I do not know the dose. 
Do not allow a UTI to go untreated unless the patient is on hospice and antibiotics are being withheld.
Good luck to you!

I found the following link helpful
http://assistedlivingtoday.com/blog/prevent-uti-elderly-women/

I second all those who advised seeing a doctor. A UTI almost killed my mom in February. She did not show "typical" symptoms in that she did not have a fever, but her wonderful caregivers noticed that she was very confused and lethargic, and they advised that we go to the ER. Very glad we did, because otherwise she would have been in danger of septicemia.

My mother (84) just returned home today from the hospital - her second UTI-related hospitalization in 3 mos. First one proceeded to septic shock, but they brought her back. My mother is in a wheelchair or in bed now, and fully incontinent, after a stroke last year. She has terrible short-term memory loss but is otherwise compos mentis. She has a large, complicated, "staghorn" kidney stone, which has not caused her pain, but seems to be at the root of the UTIs. Urologist said the only way to treat her particular stone would be through surgery - which, while relatively minor, would require general anesthesia plus she would have to go off her blood thinners. He thinks she would be at high risk. So we're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Surgery is risky and repeated UTIs are risky. Then there's the possibility that she could pass the stone, which would be miserable. How to make these decisions??

Xina, you're right, rock and a hard place, quite literally.

Does your mom have an opinion about this? She's not incompetent, from what I recall you saying.

Has anyone discussed what the options for anesthesia might be? They were able to do my mom's hip surgery with a spinal and sedation, you might want to ask.

Going off blood thinners turns out not to be as big a problem as it sounds. My husband, who has an artificial heart valve, has to go off them when he has dental work, colonoscopy, etc. It just hasn't been as big a deal as it sounded like initially. Happy 4th!

There is always the danger of septicemia with UTI and severe constipation (remember Patti Duke!) Due to dementia my senior will not follow a regime of antibiotic pills. I take him to the ER where he is admitted as an inpatient and gets IV antibiotics for 3 or more days.

Barb, I will ask the urologist about local anesthesia.

It's odd, because she is mostly with it, but actually, she is becoming more and more passive and worse at decision-making. She can't really grasp the ramifications of her options with the kidney stone. The last time we took her to the ER, she told the EMTs she didn't want to go to the hospital, and they were going to honor her request because that's what they're supposed to do. It was clear she had to go, so finally her aide and I explained and told her they would just check her out and send her home, so she agreed (and ended up there for 4 nights).

All three options seem wrong - more hospital visits, surgery, passing the stone. Objectively, I would say that the next crisis should be the last one, and at that point it will be time to go. It is really hard to see her vomiting (what happened last time) and not call 911, though.

Xina, does it feel to you like perhaps it's time to talk to hospice, or the palliative care team at the hospital she goes to?
( did you see the article on hoarding in the Real Estate section of the Times?)

If you give the patient a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water twice a day for at least 2 days and follow with 500mg vitamin C from then on the bacteria do not do well in an acidic environment. Same treatment as cranberry juice but a lot faster.

Also, make sure the elder washes...THOROUGHLY. The skin is the largest organ on the body and as such, needs to kept free from dirt that can cause infections. I can't stress that enough!

My mom has had so many UTI's that the doctors said the last one was antibiotics resistant and we just had to wait and see if the body would fight it off. Mom has full blown dementia and cannot communicate what's going on in her body. So, I bought her
Vibrant Health - U.T. Vibrance, Crisis Intervention Formula, 2.02 ounce (FFP)
on Amazon. I give it to her on a daily basis and it seems to have the UTI under control now. No more erratic behavior, just the usual dementia behavior.

A question for Marcelo...I can't find the UTI Freedomsrltrips you mentioned in your comment. Is there a typo. I would like to look into them. Thank you.

In my mother's case, the large kidney stone she has is the cause of the UTIs, because it basically traps the bacteria up and keeps her chronically infected. They flare up, she goes to the hospital, they get it under control with fluids and antibiotics, then she's fine for a while, and it comes back. She doesn't have symptoms until they are verging on sepsis, so it's awful.

Surgery is the only option for her stone. (It really is, so no need to suggest other ways to remove it. )Has anyone had a loved one in this situation - where the stone was removed and the UTIs stopped?

Wow, Melimar, that stuff really works? I am so skeptical, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try it.