Need advice on helping someone who has a very close enabler hoarding

My mother-in-law was recently hospitalized for complications with her diabetes. My husband and his sister both live out of state, but the sister went to visit after hearing about the hospitalization and discovered that her house is in a bad place. I don't think its gotten so severe that its technically considered hoarding, however its seemingly on the way. The refrigerator had been broken for weeks and food was rotting inside, there was dirty cat litter all over the house, it hadn't been dusted in years, and on top of it there is an accumulation of years worth of all sorts of stuff that needs to be thrown out (from broken furniture to makeshift tupperware). My MIL lives alone and has limited mobility, however her sister lives only a few miles away.

Long story short, MIL agrees that things should be cleaned up, but when we tried to hire professionals her sister stepped in and said that she would tend to it and would hire a woman from their neighborhood who needs the money to help her. The problem is, the sister both enables and encourages the hoarding behavior. She is very frugal and holds on to old things herself. She is the one who tells my MIL that she shouldnt get rid of that old chair, she paid a lot of money and she should get it fixed. She's also 70 years old and we believe that she both can't and won't clean things the way they need to be cleaned.

So with that said, my husband is very concerned and growing increasingly depressed because he is being met with such resistance over the idea of hiring professionals to clean up. My MIL is naturally embarrassed about the situation and having her sister sitting right next to her telling her that she doesnt need help with this and enabling her to keep things she doesnt need to be keeping is causing a rift within their family. My MIL resents my husband for being "pushy" but he doesnt want to back down because she needs help and the sanitation issue is affecting her health.

So I guess I'm just looking for insight if anyone has any. We're not sure how to proceed when we know she needs the help and we know we could persuade her to get that help if only her sister weren't in opposition of us and encouraging of this unhealthy behavior. How can you help family when family is also getting in the way? Thank you!

Submitted April 24, 2017 at 10:12PM by kalisaurus http://ift.tt/2oE5Rvd hoarding