MANAGEMENT AND QUALITY CONTROL OF INCONTINENCE CARE IN NURSING HOMES

A TREATMENT PROGRAM TO SUCCESSFULLY REVERSE URINARY INCONTINENCE IN MANY OF THE NATION'S 1 MILLION INCONTINENT NURSING HOME PATIENTS HAS RECENTLY BEEN VALIDATED IN EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES. STAFF MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING PROCEDURES HAVE ALSO BEEN EVALUATED DOCUMENTING THAT NURSINGHOMES CAN SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENT THE TREATMENT PROCEDURES WITH EXISTING STAFF RESOURCES. THE ENTIRE INCONTINENCE ASSESSMENT, TREATMENT, AND STAFF MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY HAS ONLY BEEN EFFECTIVELY IMPLEMENTED WITH EXTENSIVE INVOLVEMENT BY RESEARCH STAFF. THIS PROJECT WILL EVALUATE HOW TO COST EFFECTIVELY TRANSFER THIS TECHNOLOGY TO THE NATION'S 25,000 NURSING HOMES. WRITTEN PROGRAM MATERIALS, TRAINING PROCEDURES, AND COMPUTERSOFTWARE TO FACILITATE PROGRAM MANAGEMENT WILL BE PREPARED AND TESTED IN ONE NURSING HOME. THE GOAL WILL BE TO SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENT THE SYSTEM WITH LESS THAN 1 WEEK OF ON-SITE INVOLVEMENT BY CONSULTING STAFF. THE IMPACT OF THE PROGRAM ON PATIENT INCONTINENCE MEASURES AND THE PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION COSTS WILL BE DOCUMENTED.