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Urinary Incontinence Essay

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Urinary incontinence is the involuntary leakage of urine, which means a person urinates when they do not want to. (82 Testa) Urinary continence occurs when control over the urinary sphincter is either lost or weakened. According to the Canadian Continence Foundation, incontinence affects over 3.3 million Canadians including men and women of all ages. (http://www.canadiancontinence.ca/EN/what-is-urinary-incontinence.php) Urinary incontinence is a much more prevalent in the elderly population due to the combination of age-related changes that affect urinary wellness in older adults and risk factors. A study released in 2013 based on Canadian Community Health Survey- Healthy Aging reveals out of an estimated 512,000 older adults, about 12% of the population aged 65 or older reported urinary incontinence. Women were more likely than men experience the condition (14% vs. 9%), and older adults 85 or older were more prone to urinary incontinence. Urinary incontinence in older adults can negatively affect the quality of their life through both physically and psychosocially. Urinary …show more content…

By saying that, the goal of continence training is to achieve a continent interval of 2 to 4 hours between voiding. These intervals will differ based on the time of the day, where it will usually be longer during the night. The continence training helps the older adult to resist the urge to urinate and to gradually expand the interval between urinating. The older adult hopes to regain voluntary urinary control in this self-directed program. The essential elements of any continence training program include motivation, an assessment of voiding patterns, an individualized and carefully timed intake of approximately 1,500 to 2,000 mL of fluid per day, timed voiding in the most appropriate place, methods of reinforcing expected behaviors and ongoing

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