Incontinence in the Older Adult

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Incontinence in the Older Adult Independence and modesty are two things that elderly people tend to lose. As we age our body tends to not function at its optimal level. Our sight may become poor, our hearing diminished, and our muscles weak. The older adult is used to living on their own and taking care of their self. This is the age when they start to lose their independence by being unable to drive, or having to sell their house that had become there home. Sadly one of the hardest and most embarrassing is the loss of their control of bowel and bladder. According to the dictionary incontinence is when you are “unable to restrain natural discharges or evacuations of urine or feces.”(1) The older adult will often find that their muscles are getting weaker as they age. This may start off as a stress, urge, overflow, or mixed incontinence. In the older adult they often have functional incontinence in which they “experience incontinence simply because a physical or mental impairment keeps them from making it to the toilet in time.”(2) When a patient has arthritis they might not be able to physically make it to the bathroom. A Parkinson patient might have the same problem but due to a mental illness instead. There are many issues that can arise as a result of incontinence. Urine is very irritating to the skin and can cause a lot of damage. According to the Mayo clinic “Urinary incontinence can lead to rashes, skin infections and sores (skin ulcers) from constantly wet skin.”(2) It can also lead to urinary tract infections that can show as confusion. With an older adults skin already thin, it is more prone to complications. If you had a patient who needed total care it would be imperative to check them at least every two hours. This would enable you to clean them and reposition them so that pressure would be reduced on the same spot. Pressure sores can result if you

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