Community Vision in partnership with Essity AustralAsia (previously Asaleo Personal Care Pty Ltd) and the National Ageing Research Institute has been awarded an ARIIA grant for their project ‘A proposal to improve continence management outcomes and staff skills with the use of new sensor wear technology’.
Almost all staff enter the aged care industry without training in how to prevent or delay the onset of incontinence, and restore or manage incontinence (Ostaszkiewicz et al., 2020). Additionally, there is a lack of objective information about the frequency and severity of the Urinary Incontinence (UI) status of consumers, resulting in a trial-and-error approach to management.
This project involves establishing the feasibility and acceptability of technology to enhance continence assessment procedures. The technology will provide information on urine volume and void time to:
(i) Inform possible individualised toileting programs.
(ii) Inform appropriate product choice, reducing the number and absorbency of incontinence pads (pad/s) used.
(iii) Support workers when products require changing, minimising product waste and disruption to sleep and other activities.
(iv) Provide confidence for the workforce in knowing that continence decisions are based on accurate data and evidence.
This information can reduce workforce time managing incontinence giving more time to build trusting relationships and delivering added value in other areas. To establish the feasibility of the technology, we will evaluate uptake, completion, acceptability, and staff perceptions of the barriers and enablers to implementation, as well as any reduction in pad use and change time spent by the aged care workforce.