Challenges of bladder and bowel problems

People with Alzheimer’s Disease other forms of dementia very often end up with urinary incontinence first and this can lead on to faecal incontinence as well. There doesn’t seem to necessarily be a physical cause of this and it’s often that the person can’t find their way to the toilet, or they can’t ask for the toilet, or sometimes they can’t actually recognise the toilet and what they’re supposed to do with it.

It’s a question of trying to get them into a routine to know that shortly after eating is the most likely time for them to need to have the bowels open and get them on the toilet at that time and I’ve had a lot of success over the years in my time in care homes with taking that approach. It also has an impact on behaviour. People get very distressed if they need to have a bowel movement and they can’t find a toilet or they can’t tell anyone and so they start hitting out and shouting sometimes and actually, just getting them on the toilet at the right time you can eliminate a lot of that.