As this week has been Carer’s Week we thought we should focus on them for today’s article.

As you may already know, incontinence is one of the main problems carers have to deal with and one of the most frequent reasons for people moving from their own home into care.

The issue of dealing with incontinence is not just a practical one in terms of dealing with changes of bedding, pads, etc. for the individual or carer but for those experiencing incontinence then the emotional issues can be even larger as many adults who experience incontinence often feel embarrassed about their condition.

Any carer who works closely with incontinent adults can help improve their daily life by making them feel better about their condition. There are a many ways that to help the person you care for feel better about incontinence or bladder problems.

1. Let them know how common it is

Knowing there are others experiencing incontinence and that they’re not alone can make some people feel better about their condition. In fact, about 6 million people in the UK experience bladder weakness or incontinence of some kind.

2. Nothing to be ashamed of

Carers can significantly reduce the emotional concerns over incontinence by helping their loved ones feel less ashamed and being sensitive to their concerns.

3. Be prepared

As a carer, you can make living with incontinence less stressful if you are prepared for any incidents that may occur and also for the emotional concerns of the person in your care. Keep a good stock of absorbent products and hygiene products handy for wherever you may need them (and an easy means of disposing of them hygienically) and try not to focus too much on any incident and deal with it in a calm and organized manner.

4. Prevent incidents

Avoiding incidents is a simple way to helping your loved one feel better about their condition and minimise the impact on their life. To avert incidents as best as possible take the person you care for to the bathroom regularly (once every couple of hours, or even once every hour). This can be a lot of work for the carer, but it is a good way to maintain dryness and avoid incidents and safe time that is needed to clean up after incidents do occur.

With a lot of understanding and patience, you can help your loved one feel better about incontinence and get back to doing the things they enjoy. For more information on how you can help someone you care for either visit the helping others manage incontinence section of our website or email us for a copy of our Carer’s Guide at help@2.co.uk.