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For some people, using only a stool softener just means one then has a buildup of soft stool, which is going nowhere. Stimulant laxatives trigger the intestines to contract and push out the stool.
I do hope this recommendation will help your aunt.
Start mild & work down the list. After the natural softener like prunes, come pharmaceutical softeners, then a herbal mover like Senna & stronger, then enemas.
1. Fluids & Fibre (specialised fibre drinks)
2. Stool Softeners (magnesium, Lactulose, Miralx, Movicol)
3. Stimulants (Senna)
4. Rectal enemas
It may be she is put on a clear fluids only diet until there is improvement.
There may be a bowel obstruction?
Keep speaking to your Aunt's Doctor & being her avocate ❤️.
Hopefully you have Advance Care Plans or an idea of her values and wishes. IE curative treatment options but weighing up if curative will be too burdensome, painful or non-productive at her stage of life. If so, a comfort care approach may be considered.
Kind thoughts to you through this journey.
You might consider giving her (3) stool softeners several times a week until she has a bowel movement. I promise you it will work! I use to freak out when my mom would not go for almost 7-10 days! Vitamins are important for the elderly even if you have dementia / Alzheimer's
I've mentioned here on the forum before how my mom's slow transit colon and inability to consistently produce any bowel movements more frequently than once in 7 or more day intervals caused my incredible worry and frustration - I was convinced that her bowels would be the death of her. Once in the nursing home she was prescribed lactulose and a probiotic, they didn't fuss beyond that and they counted every brown smear on her diaper as a successful bowel movement. If she's eating, has good bowel sounds and something is coming out then it may not be as life or death as we are constantly advised it has to be, trust your hospice team. And BTW, my mom spent 18 months in the nursing home and she died of pneumonia, not bowel dysfunction.