An evaluation of three community-based projects to improve care for incontinence.

The Australian National Continence Management Strategy commissioned the implementation and evaluation of three community-based projects designed to improve care for people with incontinence by improving the detection and treatment of urinary incontinence. Projects were located in demographically diverse areas, overseen by co-operating professional groups with an interest in continence and aimed at facilitating a pathway of care for those with incontinence. Project activities focused on health care provider training and improving local referral networks, as well as raising public awareness. Multifaceted evaluation of each project was designed to inform principles for a national approach to continence care. The evaluation indicated that providers involved in each project became more confident in their ability to manage incontinence, had significantly increased knowledge of issues around incontinence and became more aware of local options for referral. However, there was little evidence that projects achieved an increase in seeking professional help among those with incontinence. From the evaluation, six principles were developed to guide future models of community-based continence care.