Something like this?

i love the loop system for convience of showering over the prettier but PITA handheld systems popular in England. if yor mother will be using the tub you should add a safe grab bar somewhere regardless of the system you choose.

Nosoccermom. Our tub has the toilet at the valve end of the tub.

Roarah. We do have grab bars I just worry that a lone pipe in the air will be both in the way and tempting to grab

I hate the lay out of the bathroom but until I can rip up the floor I am trying to work with it for now. I think a future tub will be shorter so I can include a pony wall and column to hide the toilet, house the shower plumbing and support a hoop shower

my last shower over clawfoot tub loop was used by young kids and could support some weight and never had an issue but it was never used at least to my knowledge to prevent a fall but if you ask a plumber they may know just how much of a concern it is.

That's a lovely picture shared above.

On to the question: My first choice would be a separate shower. Shower-over-clawfoot is always going to be difficult. If that's simply not a possibility (and in 5x8, I see that it isn't possible), I prefer the method shown above; I think something attached to two walls is superior to a hanging hoop -- seems more sturdy, less prone to dripping, more likely to be used properly.

Another real issue with your elderly mom is the "step down" from the tub (given that the tub and floor aren't on the same level). Clawfoot tubs can be a bit disconcerting to enter /exit.

A clawfoot tub and elderly user is a broken bone waiting to happen. There is no good solution other than to change it ASAP. It's a giant PIA to use even for the firm footed and fully able.

At 93 she is used to her system. But she does have a shower chair/grab bars so it is more a matter of how I can share the shower with her.

We have three bathrooms, two with walk-in showers, and one with claw-foot tub. The one with the tub has no shower, and is exclusively used when my wife wants to relax. I think claw-foot tubs are best without a shower, but not everyone has the space luxury to commit to that.

My parents' house has a claw-foot tub that is set back far enough from the wall that it has an oval curtain rod all the way around. The shower fixture is attached to the curtain rod. It is terribly cumbersome to shower in it. It's hard to get in and out, and it's hard to move around. When I was a child, my grandma fell in it and broke her ribs.

I don't understand how your set-up is, but what I meant is whether there's a way to have the shower head attached to wall, regardless of where the faucet is and then just go with a ceiling or wall-attached curtain rod system.

But it sounds that won't work.

can almost guarantee the hard pipe will be used as a grab bar.