Pharmacy Continence Care - Bladder and Bowel Website

Her mother’s dementia, coupled with her independent nature, mean that the
incontinence is very difficult to manage. Her mother is not used to the availability of
continence pads, and regards them as somewhat of a luxury. Mary’s mother also
suffers from a chronic vaginal itch, and says that the pads make the itch worse, so
when she does use them she also tends to discard them. To save money, she also
attempts to dry out the used pads so they can be used again. For Mary this is an
unpleasant problem. The only way she can tell whether a pad has been used is by
smelling it. She wonders why the manufacturers can’t include some sort of dye in the
pad that would show it has been used.
Hygiene is a considerable problem, and costs are high, particularly with their low
income. Mary has just used the last of her savings buying a new washing machine to
cope with the volume of washing generated by her mother’s incontinence; she uses
hot water for the washing, so electricity costs are high, and, she has to have the
carpets cleaned frequently.
Mary says her local pharmacist has been very helpful, suggesting possible treatments
for her mother’s itch and providing information about incontinence. He has also given
her a different type of continence pad to try. But Mary cannot afford to purchase the
continence pads through the pharmacist. The supermarket sells them for $5.89
compared with $9.00 from the pharmacy.
Mary is always looking for ways to make her life a bit easier and would welcome any
assistance she can get.
Final Report
46
NOVA Public Policy
Pharmacy Continence Care Project