The drive to make a difference

We are all unique. With our own wants and needs. And we all come in different shapes and sizes. So, when it comes to incontinence, why is it so hard to be seen and treated as an individual?

For years, TENA has worked to promote and prove the benefits of a person-centred approach to continence care. And the reason for this is simple: person-centred care benefits everyone. But if the benefits are so clear, why doesn’t every care facility work this way?

Well, real change rarely happens overnight. People have to see the evidence and be prepared to act. Now, thanks to a recent study carried out by Essity in partnership with the UK National Health Service (NHS), more people are seeing the evidence than ever before. And the evidence produced by this study was overwhelming – better care, reduced workloads and a staggering cost saving of around 500 million pounds. The eight-week study took place at an NHS trust in England. The focus was the effect on continence care when absorbent products were chosen based on individual needs rather than price per unit.

One of the driving forces behind the study was Richard Maddison, Public Affairs Market Access and Strategic Health Manager at Essity. Richard’s main role is to influence decision makers and convince them to look at procurement in terms of long-term value and systems-wide savings.

Before working for Essity, Richard worked for the NHS where one of his responsibilities was purchasing. After moving to Essity, he began to work within continence care, so he really understands the challenges faced by both decision makers and caregivers. Richard was also given a greater understanding of the day-to-day challenges of incontinence when his professional and personal life began to merge.

“I used to care for my grandparents and would go around to see them three times a week. Then, when the first lockdown happened, my grandmother took me aside and asked me to buy her incontinence pads. That was the first time we knew she was having issues. From then on, I became her carer.”

Looking after his grandmother not only gave Richard real insight into the day-to-day challenges of living with incontinence, it also gave him the drive to make a difference.

When it came to the study, the NHS trust managers were very keen to do something to help the residents. And the key to this was collecting the right information and using it in the right way. Richard and his team began with care needs profiles, where each resident was profiled based on their individual needs and placed into a category – from independent and mobile to totally dependent. They also trained the trust’s caregivers to collect the right information about each resident, including number of leakages and product changes, product type absorption level and more.

After one week, the data was reviewed together with one of the NHS trust’s own continence specialists. With Essity’s support, the continence specialist then decided what product type or absorption level was most suitable for each resident. Once the necessary changes had been made, the information was collected again and compared with the previous data. The improvements were instant and clear for everyone to see.

“Initially, 86% of residents were using the traditional two-piece absorbent product. After the review, this figure was reduced to 18% with more using pants or belted products.,” explains Richard. “This showed that the two-piece product clearly wasn’t suitable for everyone.” And it wasn’t just the type of protection that changed, so did the number of products used and the benefits they delivered.

The study was a resounding success and the results written about in hundreds of publications. But for Richard, one of the most rewarding moments came from one of the residents themselves.

“After the study, a resident told me ‘I feel much more secure now than before. I’m happier and I don’t have to worry about leaks.’ When you get older, you shouldn’t have to worry about anything. So, to hear this person say that they were happy and didn’t have to worry meant everything.”

There is still a long way to go to convince people to see continence care in terms of person-centred care rather than cost. But by carrying out more studies, collecting and comparing the data and combining it with the dedication and drive of people like Richard and his Essity colleagues, real change can happen.