How we provide independent advice

The information in this website is:

• Independent: written and reviewed by continence health professionals and users of continence products.

• Evidence-based: where possible content is based on evidence (or expert opinion if evidence is lacking) with references to sources.

• Generic: focuses on product designs and types without reference to branded products except when essential.

• Not-for-profit: no advertising is displayed. The development and maintenance of the website is funded through educational grants.

• International: linked to information in different countries for local advice on product availability, guidelines and regulations.

There are many thousands of individual product brands available to help manage bladder and bowel problems. Manufacturers regularly make changes to their brands and so it would be impossible to provide up to date information about all of them as it would quickly be out of date. However, most products fall into one of a few groups of product according to the type of problem they are designed to help. This website provides general information about products within these groups; this is possible because the groups of products tend not to change very often and the information is longer lasting.

How the Continence Product Advisor can help

The Continence Product Advisor will help you:

• Decide what’s important when making decisions about which products would best suit your needs

• Think about the features of available products so you can choose those which suit you best

• Find one or more appropriate products that may be suitable for you

• Choose products based on the best currently available research.

The Continence Product Advisor will not:

• Provide information about specific product brands (but it does provide links to suppliers' websites)

• Provide information about getting hold of products in your own country as this depends on local healthcare policy

• Provide all the answers about which products to use.

For information about product availability where you are, click on worldwide

How to use the Continence Product Advisor

The Continence Product Advisor is intended to be as helpful as possible. There is a great deal of information in the many sections so you are advised to look through the whole site to make sure you don't miss anything relevant for you.

The website is divided into a number of sections set out in the tabs at the top of each page with corresponding boxes (with pictures) at the bottom of the page. There are links to click on throughout the site to take you to related sections.

There are two main sections:

• Advice: if you need help finding a product to suit your needs.

• Products: if you know which product you want but need more information.

Throughout the website you will find lots of different functions; for example:

• Pop-up synonyms and definitions: Hover over a technical word to get synonyms and click on the word to get a definition.

• References: If you are interested in the research which underpins the information in the website see 'Evidence' on each page. Click on the small numbers in the text for the research reference and then click on the reference to be taken via Google to the publication. Please note, references about products which cannot currently be purchased (either they are still experimental or have been discontinued) can be found in the full list but not the main text.

• Links: Click on links throughout the text to move between relevant sections.

• Print outs: Pages can be printed out by clicking on the print icon.

• Images: Pictures are used throughout the text to illustrate products. Move your cursor over the images to see close up detail.

Who are we?

The Continence Product Advisor website project is led by:

• Prof Alan Cottenden, University College London (UCL)
• Prof Mandy Fader, University of Southampton (UoS)

The Continence Product Advisor website project development team are:

• Margaret Macaulay, Research Nurse, UCL (Joint Content Lead)
• Sinead Clarke-O’Neill, Research Nurse, UCL (Joint Content Lead)
• Dominic Turner, IT Director, ICS (Technical Lead)

Supported by:

• Deborah Knight, Administrator, UoS, UK
• Ashley Brookes, Senior Analyst Programmer, ICS
• Roger Blackmore, Flash Developer / Graphic Designer, ICS
• ICS Nursing Committee

The website content is based on the International Consultation on Incontinence chapter 'Management Using Continence Products' which was written by:

• Alan Cottenden (UK)
• Donna Bliss (USA)
• Brian Buckley (Ireland)
• Mandy Fader (UK)
• Cheryle Gartley (USA)
• Daniella Hayder (Germany)
• Joan Ostaszkiewicz (Australia)
• M. Wilde (USA)

Eds. P.Abrams, L.Cardozo, S.Khoury & A.Wein Health Publications Ltd.

Click here to purchase Incontinence 5th edition (available online from September 2013)

The authors from previous editions are:

Alan Cottenden (UK), Donna Bliss (USA), Brian Buckley (Ireland), Mandy Fader (UK), Kathryn Getliffe (formerly UK), Jan Paterson (Australia), Ronny Pieters (Belgium), M. Wilde (USA)

Manufacturers

Every attempt has been made to provide generic information about products. Although it may be possible to identify a specific brand of product, particularly where few exist within a group or a product has a very distinctive design, it is not our deliberate intention to enable identification of brands or provide a marketing platform. The Continence Product Advisor website 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.

Photographs and Images

The website contains photographic images of a range of products within each of the main product groups. It is not the intention to include images of all available products.

Editorial policy The content of the website will be periodically reviewed by the editorial team.

Future Developments

The website is an ongoing project and some areas have yet to be completed. The site content will be periodically reviewed and we look forward to constructive feedback from our visitors.

Thanks

We are grateful to:

• The ICI and ICS for their support with this project
• The health care professionals and people who use products for their time reviewing the website
• The models for their willingness to participate with photography
• The medical illustration unit of Southampton General Hospital for the photography.

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, Awesome by Dave Gandy.

Important information about incontinence

• The term ‘incontinence’ describes leakage of urine from the bladder or faeces from the bowel which you cannot control.
• It is a very common problem for people of all ages affecting as many as 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men at some point in their lives. Children can also be affected.
• Some people are more at risk than others e.g. women around childbearing age and the menopause, or men with prostate problems.
• Understandably, most people find incontinence very embarrassing and difficult to come to terms with. It can affect all aspects of everyday life at work and at home, as well as physical activities and relationships with other people.

Always remember...

• Incontinence is a symptom with one or more underlying causes. Identifying and dealing with these can often lead to complete cure or a substantial reduction of symptoms.
• Seeking help is always advisable. There are specialist doctors, nurses and physiotherapists. To find out about these ask your family doctor or community nurse. Alternatively, to find out about organisations in your own country click on the worldwide link.