A Practical Approach to Incontinence and Constipation: Taking the Distress Out of Elimination

This presentation explores the care of two common problems encountered by the nursing home resident - urinary incontinence and constipation. The presenter will highlight behavioral (or non-pharmacological) approaches in management, primarily addressing nutrition, fluids, habits, and activity, in addition to the typical medication based approach.

Speaker:

T.S. Dharmarajan, MD

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the prevalence and dilemmas related to two common problems affecting residents in the nursing home setting: urinary incontinence and constipation.
• Recognize the etiological factors and predisposition to urinary incontinence and constipation in residents of long term care.
• Identify the different types of transient and persistent urinary incontinence, and related management (both behavior modification and pharmacological approaches).
• Discuss the causes of constipation, and related management (both behavior modification and pharmacological approaches).
• Ensure that providers are comfortable in dealing with the two topics and are able to comprehend the cases provided at the end of the presentation.

Credits:

1.5 CME, 1.5 CMD clinical

CME/CMD Credits available until September 2017