New Zealand News
Continence NZ are pleased to be hosting a two-day conference in Auckland on 14–15 September 2023. The conference will cover a range of topics for both adults and children, including managing incontinence in the elderly, recurrent prolapse, bowel management, constipation in children and daytime wetting in children. We are pleased to confirm speakers Dr Giovanni Losco; Liz Childs a pelvic health physiotherapist; Professor Mark Weatherall a geriatrician and more great speakers. A full preliminary programme is available
on our website www.continencenzconference.org. We look forward to seeing you there!
World Continence Week 2023
World Continence Week 2023 ran from 19–25 June. This year’s campaign focused on bowel health and encouraged a conversation about what ‘normal’ or healthy bowels look like and when to seek medical advice. Jason Gunn featured in our campaign again this year and it reached almost 45,000 people with tips on how to improve bowel health and information about where to seek support. See the campaign resources at the following link: www.continence.org.nz/pages/World-Continence-Week-2023:-Whats-Your-Number/302
Community and online education
Our popular Toilet Tactic webinar series is running from early August with children’s continence nurse Lisa Smith. It covers topics such as bowel and bladder health, toilet training, constipation, bedwetting, daytime wetting, stool withholding, and toilet training for children with additional needs and it’s free to register for one or all of our sessions. We will have further webinars for both adults and children running throughout the year. Details of our upcoming webinars are available at www.continence.org.nz/pages/Upcoming-Community-Education/301
With support from the IHC Foundation, Continence NZ has recently developed two new online training modules, Key Continence Training for Schools and Key Continence Training for Disability Support Services. These are free and may be accessed anytime at www.continence.org.nz/pages/Free-Online-Training/295
Research update
Continence NZ is finalising a significant piece of research funded by the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board. The purpose of this project is to make recommendations as to how Continence NZ can most effectively serve those living with incontinence in New Zealand. We have recently completed a series of five focus groups discussing the experiences of our community living with incontinence, the barriers to accessing care and what support is needed for those living with incontinence. We have also gathered further data from those working in continence care in New Zealand, our helpline clients, members and the wider community. We are grateful to all who have contributed to this research, the findings will be released in September 2023.
Author(s)
Laura Fear
CEO, Continence NZ
