title: "I will manage": promoting continence through community education.
abstract: Urinary incontinence affects approximately 10 million Americans, mostly elderly persons in community and institutional settings. Despite the prevalence of UI and an estimated annual total cost of $ 10 billion in the United States alone, most affected persons do not seek help for incontinence. This is chiefly because of embarrassment or because they are not aware that help is available. In this article, we describe a community education and support program for persons with fecal and urinary incontinence. The program is based on the "I Will Manage" model from the Simon Foundation for Continence, founded to "increase public awareness of incontinence, remove social stigma attached to this disability, and provide education to those suffering from incontinence, their families, and the professionals responsible for their care." The program provides a comprehensive and practical framework to promote continence through community education. In this article, we outline the program and provide information we gathered from hosting it.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Haugen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D005242:Fecal Incontinence / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012657:Self-Help Groups / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000517:prevention & control*