Top Tips For Person-Centered Continence Care

A Carlingwark Case Study

What’s our story?

Carlingwark

Traditional care home in Dumfries & Galloway

2011 – Shirley joined….

Approach based upon routine – overuse of products

What’s our story? 2012/14 An entirely different approach Far lower than national average use of products 2012 – Anne Jamieson Continence Award Winner Winner of ‘Best Dementia Continence Care Award’ – 2013

National Dementia Awards, shortlisted again in 2014!

So, what did we do?

How did we improve things?

Culture and Education

Creating a new culture….

Manager, Shirley, needed to understand the needs of the people supported – not an overnight task!

Found most residents didn’t have physical continence problems

Established in-home Continence Lead post – championing good practice, offering expertise and leading by example

Challenged ingrained staff attitudes and perceptions - promoting positivity!

Dignity Awareness built into everything we do.

Closely partnered with NHS Continence Advisory Service – finding a powerful, interested advocate!

Celebrated staff successes

Meaningful Assessments

Really knowing the person…

In-depth assessment when people join Carlingwark

Assessments are on-going – constantly aim to promote independence

Research impact of all medication

Build relationships – knowing life story and personality – to understand needs and physical cues

Ensure products are right for the individual

Environment Efforts…

The right environment…

Living environment – En-suites, visual cues, bed placement, blue toilet seats, toilet raisers.

Removing barriers – Make it easy for people to access to toilet – e.g. Are mobility aids reachable?

Promoting Dignity – Small but important steps, like ensuring continence products are not visible to guests

Having the right equipment in place

A peaceful environment – calm and no odours

It never stops! Working with D&G IDEAS team on dementia friendly signage, OT’s – raised toilet seats etc.

Bringing it all together…. A case study.

Changing Lives

Resident lives with dementia and incontinent at night

Poor mobility & prone to falls.

Assessed by team – with advice from Continence Lead

Supported every two hours

Requires support 3-4 times a night – causing him tiredness, increasing his risk of falling

Partnered with Falls Clinic

Introduced inview standard sheaths – one week trial

Very successful – sleep restored and anxiety reduced

Dietary and fluid intake increased, health improved

Transformed relationship with wife

Award Winners – but not perfect!

It’s a continual process…

Dementia-friendly signage

Introducing Continence and Product Passports

Learning from others –, Continence Leads, Care Inspectorate (they’re a friend, not an enemy!!)

Benchmarking

Sharing best practice – internally and externally

More training and development

Find out more in Care News, the Care Inspectorate magazine

www.c-i-c.co.uk /@ComIntCare julie.cowen@c-i-c.co.uk