By using a telemonitoring system for a short time, nursing home caregivers were able to notably improve incontinence management, according to a new study out of Australia.
Researchers with the University of Wollongong in the state of New South Wales conducted the study over 12 weeks in 2011. Caregivers were trained in how to use a mobile, wireless telemonitoring system that recorded voiding events for incontinent residents identified as having “high care needs,” according to the study abstract. The staff members created a care plan using data collected over 72 hours, and then the residents were reassessed after a two-week period.
The care plans achieved “statistically significant” outcomes including reduced amounts of urine discharged into continence pads, fewer prescribed toileting visits and increased incidence of successful toileting, the researchers found. Caregivers also were more likely to adhere to the continence care plans that were based on the telemonitoring data.
Findings appear in the Journal of Clinical Nursing.
