Top of page

Continence product advice for users, carers and healthcare professionals

  • Independent
  • Evidence-based
  • Not-for-profit
  • Without industry sponsorship
  • Comprehensive

Although bladder and bowel problems can often be cured, millions of people worldwide must manage incontinence and toileting problems using a combination of products. Find out which products might suit your needs…

As listed on www.nhs.uk

Products for women

Resources

Free materials for you to share with patients, colleagues and friends:

Flyers

Business cards

Video

Hear what users say about the Continence Product Advisor a 2-minute video in which clinicians and product users explain the benefits of the website

Signature banner

Add this signature to inform people widely about the website

Reading about the website

Urology news feature: catheters and incontinence after radical prostatectomy: preparing (but not scaring) men

PDFs in the website may be downloaded and distributed free of charge.

Images may also be used but please acknowledge the source.

Tell people about Continence Product Advisor

You may have work colleagues, friends or family who would be interested in Continence Product Advisor. Feel free to cut and paste the text and website link below into an email or message.

A brief summary of the Continence Product Advisor

The Continence Product Advisor website (www.continenceproductadvisor.org) is designed to give users, carers and healthcare professionals detailed, essential information about products for bladder, bowel, and toileting problems. Derived from the International Consultation on Incontinence systematic reviews by academic and clinical continence experts from around the world and expert users, the Continence Product Advisor provides information which is:

  • Evidence-based – including the product advisor, shown to improve confidence in product selection
  • Independent – without industry sponsorship or brand promotion
  • Comprehensive – a one-stop information resource covering all key product designs
  • Not for profit and freely available – with downloadable resources

Facts: The Continence Product Advisor is the only evidence-based continence product resource on nhs.uk and has had around 1 million visits from people worldwide since its launch.

About us

The Continence Product Advisor is a collaboration between International Consultation on Incontinence (ICI), International Continence Society (ICS), University of Southampton and University College London.

The content and underpinning research evidence, is based on the management using continence products chapter in Incontinence (Edition 6). It is hosted and maintained by the International Continence Society, the foremost international multi-disciplinary organisation for incontinence education and research.

The purpose of the Continence Product Advisor is to help healthcare professionals, individuals and their carers to:

  • Identify products and combinations to suit needs, lifestyles and preferences - based on research
  • Get the best out of products – including ‘how to…’ videos, leaflets and tips from users
  • Identify companies supplying products of interest, by country / region

The Continence Product Advisor covers all key product types and is:

  • Research-based – where evidence is available
  • Not-for-profit
  • Without industry sponsorship
  • Written by product user and continence experts

We are a multi-disciplinary team of expert clinicians and product users, communications and IT personnel

ICI editorial team:

  • Mandy Fader, Professor of Continence Technology, University of Southampton
  • Alan Cottenden, Emeritus Professor of Incontinence Technology, University College London
  • Brian Buckley, Independent Health Services Researcher and Patient Representative
  • Margaret Macaulay, Senior Research Fellow, University of Southampton
  • Catherine Murphy, Senior Research Fellow, University of Southampton
  • Jacqueline Emkes, Independent Patient Representative
  • Chris Chatterton, Independent Patient Representative
  • Fiona Brewer, Senior Administrator Officer (Internal Communications and Relationships), University of Southampton

ICS technical team:

  • Dominic Turner, Information Technology Director, International Continence Society
  • Roger Blackmore, User Experience /Graphic Designer, International Continence Society

Contact us

We regularly receive queries from visitors to the site. These are answered by an expert nurse. Although we do our best to respond fully, we are unable to provide specific clinical advice or send product samples.

Complete our short survey

We welcome constructive feedback from all our visitors so please tell us what you think. Your feedback provides vital support for our applications for further funding for the website so please do complete the survey.

Contribute your expert ‘user’ tips

These provide an opportunity for product users to share their experiences with others and are a much valued part of the Continence Product Advisor. User tips can be submitted on individual product pages by clicking on 'Add your tip' or by contacting us. They are moderated by members of the editorial team who reserve the right to adjust the wording or not include the tip.

Manufacturers

Every effort has been made to provide information generically; that is, without reference to specific product brands. It may sometimes be possible to identify a specific brand of product, particularly where there are few brands within a product type or if a product has a very distinctive design, but it is not our deliberate intention to enable identification of brands or provide a marketing platform. The Continence Product Advisor intends to provide impartial information about product groups and characteristics of products within those groups; it does not recommend one brand of product over another. Please contact us to be added to our supplier database or to tell us about any changes to your product range.

Inclusivity: Transgender, non-binary and intersex

The Continence Product Advisor team recognises and respects the diversity of bodies, genders, sexualities and relationships. We recognise the importance of inclusive language in acknowledging this diversity, and insofar as possible inclusive language and terms are used on the website.

However, in many places we use assigned-sex-based definitions of “male” and “female” or “men” and “women” – for example, in the products sections and the Product Advisor feature. This is because the design of many continence products is based upon anatomy. Whether a product is suitable and effective therefore depends upon a person’s anatomy, regardless of gender identity.

Like any object that is worn or regularly used, continence products can both reflect and affect self-image and identity. The Continence Product Advisor recognises that incongruence of continence products and gender may be especially challenging for transgender and intersex people.

Continence Product Advisor would welcome constructive comment from the transgender, non-binary and intersex communities to improve our website.

Photographs and Images

The website contains photographic images of a range of products within each of the main product groups. We only include photos taken by our team and where the editorial team considers there are specific features which it would be of benefit to visitors to have highlighted in a picture. It is not the intention to include images of all available products.

Editorial policy

The content of the website is periodically reviewed by the editorial team. The website is an ongoing project and some areas have yet to be completed and others started – we appreciate your patience while we develop these.

Legal notices

All text copyright of ICI, all software, databases and code is copyright and the intellectual property of ICS, medical Photography copyright University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust reproduced with permission. Other images reproduced courtesy of Shutterstock and iStockphoto. Site scaffolding courtesy of the Twitter Bootstrap CSS framework. Typography - Arvo by Anton Koovit, Font Awesome by Dave Gandy.

* Incontinence Edition 6 (2017) Editors: Paul Abrams, Linda Cardozo, Adrian Wagg and Alan Wein.
’Management using continence products’ Committee Chairs: Alan Cottenden (UK) & Mandy Fader (UK)
Authors: D. Beeckman (Belgium) B. Buckley (Philippines) E. Kitson-Reynolds (UK) K. Moore (Canada) K. Nishimura (Japan) J. Ostaszkiewicz (Australia) J. Watson (UK) M. Wilde (USA)
Consultants: D. Bliss (USA) D. Turner (UK)
ISBN: 978-0-9569607-3-3

Continence Product Advisor

Incontinence can often be cured. Incontinence is a problem with one or more underlying causes that can often be cured or improved. Whatever your age seeking help is always advisable. Take the first step to getting help by contacting a health professional or continence organisation in your country.

This website is a collaborative project from:





Copyright © ICI, ICS