People with severe urinary incontinence are often elderly and care dependent, so they need assistance to be changed on a timely basis to prevent infection and skin ulcers, not to mention maintaining their personal comfort. Whether people live in a care facility or remain in their own home, knowing when and how often to change continence pads is both a quality of life and health issue.
ChangeAlert is currently testing its eponymous ChangeAlert adult continence pad sensor system for use in care facilities and with people in independent settings. ChangeAlert consists of a sensor on a strip that is place inside the continence pad. When moisture hits the pad the sensor wirelessly communicates to an application installed on a desktop monitoring system (in the case of a care facility) or a smartphone or alert key ring (independent applications). The response indicator is green when the pad is dry and then cycles through yellow, orange, and red with successive dampness levels. A log of the information is held in cloud storage where it can be studied to determine change schedules and frequency.
Since many with severe urinary incontinence may not sense it or cannot communicate effectively, noninvasive, non-intrusive remote monitoring can assure all parties that pads will be changed when needed rather than rely just on periodic checking. The need-to-change response promotes dignity, comfort, and health. Particularly in care facilities, this care can be provided on a more personalized basis and afford more efficient use of care staff time. If ChangeAlert works as intended it offers a chance to improve care and reduce personnel expenditures.
