• HCAH conducts training session to equip home nursing staff in dealing sensitively with patients
• Embarrassment attached with urinary incontinence often discourages people from sharing their concerns 
• The training session guided staff on helping bed ridden patients and tackling issues of bed sores, skin care and using diapers for urinary incontinence

NewZNew (Noida) : Old age brings much cherished wisdom, but it also entails weakening of a person’s ability to lead a normal daily life. Apart from such concerns as arthritis, weak bones, loss of cognition, major secondary health disorders that afflict a large number of elderly include bed sores and urinary incontinence.

The discomfort and embarrassment associated with old age health disorders forces people to restrict their daily activities, often restricting them to bed. Consequently, they end up suffering from additional problems like bed sores, which are open wounds on skin that causes immense pain. Severe bed sores penetrate deep into the skin affecting the multiples layers of tissue, including muscle and bone.  The sight is grotesque making it difficult for dear ones to help in coping with the issue.

Apart from bed sores urinary incontinence is another factor that becomes problematic for senior people. It is condition where the patient has a sudden and urgent to urinate with every cough or sneeze.

Keeping these two specific needs of elderly patients in mind, leading home health service provider Healthcare at Home today organized a large scale training session for its nursing staff to train and equip them in dealing with these concerns in the best and most sensitive manner.

Bed sores and urinary incontinence are two major factors that drive the need for home nursing staff for the bed ridden elderly patients. These concerns and how to deal with them effectively, however, are often not given due importance.

Healthcare at Home considers the treatment and care of patients a comprehensive process. Although, the nursing staffs are well trained to serve the patients with complete love, care and knowledge, less knowledge is imparted in terms of curing bed sores, skin rashes or handling UI patients.

Taking into account the increase in number of people opting for healthcare services at home, Healthcare at Home (HCAH) has taken the initiative to conduct an educational session for its physiotherapy staff and nurses on use of diapers for adults, as well as preventing and managing bed sores in bed ridden patients.

In a healthy individual, the brain sends messages to the bladder to turn urination on and off. However, in some instances this regulation goes awry, creating problems of loss of control over the bladder. Considering the humiliation that the condition accompanies with it, people shy away from talking about it or seeking medical guidance for its cure.

 “UI is an embarrassing condition. However, it should not be neglected. UI is another major factor that has given boost to the home health care services. Most of the elderly people are bed ridden dependent on others for their works. While the dear ones gets used to managing the bed sores over the time, managing UI becomes problematic. Therefore, it has become important for us to train our home care nurses and staff about UI and it management. The session is an effort towards the same and a step to provide better services to patient dealing with the issue. We believe there is increasing need for nursing staff to be trained in UI management techniques that make life easier for the elderly,” said Vivek Srivastava, CEO, Health Care at Home (HCAH).

Conditions of UI is tough to tackle for the home nurses/ staff and equally embarrassing for the patient. Therefore, it is important for the nurse to have proper knowledge about the condition and guidance of tackling the condition. While many may believe that UI is a natural condition of old age, it may not be necessarily so. Ranging from causes like loss of higher control of micturition, which normally controls urination to set of neurological conditions such as SCI, MS, PD and Neurogenic Detrusor Overactivity (NDO), the reason for urinary incontinence may vary from person to person.

Medical conditions and some medications can cause involuntary loss of urine. Women generally suffer incontinence due to weakened pelvic muscles. Enlarged prostate glands are often the cause of incontinence for men. Factors such as alcohol and caffeine also contribute to cause UI in later years. Sometimes there occurs a need to insert temporary, disposable devices in the urethra to stop involuntary urine flow. Additionally, use of adult incontinence diapers or briefs can also help the patient resume to normal and uninterrupted lifestyles.

“There are any patients suffering from such health issues, and we need a well-trained nursing staff to manage these conditions. Learning about incontinence and its causes can help seniors/ patients successfully manage the condition. Also, the use adult diapers are considered to be a shame, which also needs to undergo a change,” said Dr Gaurav Thukral, Head, medical services, Healthcare at home (HCAH).

This training was conducted for all locations of HCAH via video conference.