Continence Care in the Community
The Home and Community Care Program for Younger People (HACC PYP) and the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) provides a range of basic support services to frail older people and younger people with a disability and their carers, who wish to continue living at home and need some support in managing daily tasks. People receiving HACC PYP/CHSP services have diverse backgrounds and needs. Assessment and care planning is the foundation for individualised high quality interventions, support and assisting people to navigate through the broader service system.
The Grampians Region HACC Program recognised the importance of good continence care and support in the lives of community members and is worked to ensure that all HACC PYP and CHSP eligible clients can access individualized continence support in a timely and effective manner.
Continence can affect any one of us, both personally and within our service provider role. Previous training has shown us the intrinsic value of using a strength-based partnership approach to develop individual solutions to optimise health and wellbeing.
HACC PYP and CHSP funded service providers most commonly engaged in providing continence support in the community are:
- Registered nurses
- Continence Nurse Advisors/Consultants
- Community Support Workers
- Living at Home Assessment Officers
- Regional Assessment Service Officers
A number of resources have been developed to assist all HACC PYP and CHSP staff to understand the dynamics of having a continence problem, how it affects people, who can assist and what type of resources are available to help. Whether you are a volunteer with an organization, an administrator who works with clients on the phone or a health clinician your understanding of what continence is, is crucial to your effective working relationships with clients.
The Grampians Region Sector Support and Development Program focussed their efforts in two specific areas:
The role of Division One Nurses and Continence Nurse Advisors/Consultants/Services
The role of the Community Support Worker
New Resource: Practical Guide to Continence Services in Grampians 0617
Further details on these activities can be accessed by clicking the links above.
Please NOte: these tools and resources were developed primarily for HACC – however all material also fits with CHSP requirements and Grampians Region Personal Care Protocol 2018
What is Continence?
Continence is the capacity to pass urine or faeces in socially and hygienically acceptable circumstances.
Incontinence is the accidental or involuntary loss of urine from the bladder (urinary incontinence) or bowel motion, faeces or wind from the bowel (faecal or bowel incontinence).
A normal bladder:
* Empties four to eight times each day (every three to four hours)
* Can hold up to 400-600 ml of urine (the sensation of needing to empty occurs at 200 300ml)
* May wake you up once at night to pass urine and twice if you are older
* Tells you when it is full, but gives you enough time to find a toilet
* Empties completely each time you pass urine and does not leak urine
A normal bowel:
* Normal frequency for bowel motions varies greatly and can be within the range of three times a day, to once every three days
* Bowel motions are soft and formed
* You should not have to strain to empty your bowel
* You should not experience any accidental loss of faeces
* Bowel motions should not take more than a minute to completely evacuate
* You should not experience pain when emptying your bowel
Incontinence is not, and should not be, an expected outcome of older age
Why is continence important?
Thirty percent of women and 20 percent of men aged 60 or over suffer urinary incontinence
About 42 percent of women and 44 percent of men aged 75 years or over experience urinary incontinence
In the community dwelling population over 65 years, faecal incontinence occurs at least once a week in3:7 percent of people and the rate is substantially greater for residents of aged care facilities (10.3 percent)
Urinary and faecal incontinence may be a significant contributing factor to the decision to admit to residential aged care
Promoting and encouraging continence can have a positive impact individual’s dignity, self-esteem and wellbeing, often without time consuming or
Continence issues can often be prevented with appropriate screening, care and life for the person assessment, prevention and management strategies, resulting in better quality of
(Information Source: Best care for older people everywhere – the toolkit, a Victorian Government Initiative, 2009, Page123)
Continence Resources available in the Grampians Region:
Grampians Region Continence Service – ring
Queries/Advice 5320 3795 Referrals 5320 3690 Resources Centre 5320 3829
Wimmera Region Continence Service – ring
Queries/Advice 5381 9321
Continence Nurse Advisors/Consultants are available via some District Nursing Service and Health Services:
Online and Telephone Continence Resources:
Continence Foundation of Australia