www.incontinentsupport.org

http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2016/0 ... fate-death

In a recent survey, Dr. Emily Rubin and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania asked 180 hospitalized patients over age 60 which “states of functional debility” might be so awful as to make death preferable.
...
Incontinence was considered the same as or worse than death by 68.9 percent of those surveyed -- the highest among the 10 states of debility.

Somehow, I just don't agree with the article at all. That's my story and I'm stickin to it.

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- Tom

Add me to the list of those who disagree with that. And, Kimberly Clark would not be making millions in profit if it were true.

That may explain doctors reluctance to recommend their patients use diapers to manage their conditions.

I'm not clear as to whether "functional debility" refers to a condition which prevents an individual from living his/her life in the way that s/he chooses (like blindness, significant paralysis, etc.), or a condition that a person has compensated for in a roundabout way. Either way, my residual motor impairment caused by a stroke that I had a few years ago frustrates and limits me much more than my incontinence does, so, IMHO, incontinence is not a fate worse than death.

W.

Incontinence used to be a terrible fate in the past. I read a historical review of incontinence care. Before repairing surgery, especially women who had given birth and sustained injuries in the process, often constantly leaked, rendering them basically housebound for the rest of their lives. Today surgeries, medicines and protection, whether the sufferer is male or female, make life easier, but I still understand that some may feel their fate is worse than death. For example, in many hospitals and care-homes for the elderly, bedridden people wear diapers that may be very seldom changed. The situation's often even worse for those elderly or handicapped people who live at home and are only visited by a caregiver (who work on a very tight schedule) once or twice a day for about ten or fifteen minutes at a time. This is a constant topic in the newspapers. Budget cuts don't help, and some private enterprises couldn't care less. So yeah, when combined with other health issues, dementia and neglect, incontinence may be a fate worse than death, at least from the patients' or their families' point of view. But it's more about the circumstances rather than the incontinence itself.

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Linja-autojen ja rakkauden perässä voi juosta tai odottaa seuraavaa.

I agaree.. even total incon can be managed with approproiate devices (condom caths, indwelling cath) and even if one had fecal incon,one could opt for a colostomy. I certianly woudnt consider it the end of life, but it would curtail my activities somewhat if i was suddenly rendered fecal incon.

Peace out!

Rob

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"We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love" Mother Teresa

"THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!" - Captain Picard from Chain of Command, Part II

I certainly agree that incontinence is not the most serious form of disability that an elderly person may suffer. Far from it! However, the attitude that the cited study reports is a reflection of the amount of work that needs to be done to educate people to the fact that incontinence can often be effectively treated or even cured and that, for people for whom a cure or effective treatment is not possible, management with absorbent products is possible and can enable people to live almost normal lives in which they can carry on doing all the things that they need or want to do.

Yep, I agree with you, Inconinmiss. Education and discussion of incontinence is crucial. Campaigns informing people about the misconceptions and facts regarding it should be much more visible and common than they are now.

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Linja-autojen ja rakkauden perässä voi juosta tai odottaa seuraavaa.

I guess this goes to show how much the general public still sees incontinence as something that absolutely must be avoided at all costs, because they simply still do not understand it.

And in spite of being "a fate worse than death," most insurance still will not cover diapers.

--John