Contact: 
Peggy Malikowski, School of Nursing, malik025@umn.edu  or 612-624-6696
Laura Stroup, Academic Health Center, stro0481@umn.edu or 612-624-5680 

U'S SCHOOL OF NURSING AND HEALTHPARTNERS Receive NIH Grant to ADDRESS FECAL AND URINARY INCONTINENCE

Award will evaluate large and underreported condition and its associated problems in older adults living with Alzheimer's disease or dementia

 MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (Nov. 17, 2008)- The University of Minnesota's School of Nursing and HealthPartners Research Foundation will receive more than $60,000 over two years from the National Institutes of Health to research new ways to manage incontinence and prevent related skin-care issues in adults with Alzheimer's disease or dementia (AD), a population expected to increase by more than 50 percent by 2030. Because it is an embarrassing topic to discuss, incontinence often is underreported, but is a large and growing problem for older adults and those who care for them. Approximately 10 percent of all individuals and up to 50 percent of patients in nursing homes experience fecal incontinence and up to 10 percent of them suffer from associated skin problems. With the population of adults aged 65 and older with AD expected to increase from 4.5 million to 7.7 million between now and 2030, a corresponding increase in the number of nursing home admissions is anticipated.

"There is a need for interventions to facilitate better communication about the management of incontinence and the prevention of associated skin problems among the people with AD, their caregivers, and their healthcare providers," said Donna Bliss,Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., F.G.S.A., professor at the University of Minnesota's School of Nursing and one of the study's co-principal investigators. "The long-term goals of our research are to improve the quality of life of persons with AD living in the community and strengthen the ability of caregivers and healthcare providers to provide optimal care."

Specifically, the NIH-funded project, "Raising Literacy and Capacity for Incontinence and Skin Care in Dementia," will explore how to improve communication among patients, families, and healthcare providers on the topic of incontinence. In addition, researchers will address ways to support informal caregivers while improving the treatment they and trained healthcare providers deliver for this health problem in patients across diverse ethnic backgrounds. Results of the research could also positively impact how people who are at risk for incontinence and its associated problems due to their other chronic health illnesses can be better managed.

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to join the School of Nursing on this research to establish practice models to improve patient outcomes," said Cheri Rolnick, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate director of research at HealthPartners Research Foundation, and co-principal investigator for the study.  "Our participation as a community partner enables the project to take an innovative and feasible approach grounded in community-based participatory research." In addition, the use of HealthPartners' administrative databases and electronic medical records will enable Bliss and Rolnick to recruit patients from a variety of ethnic backgrounds in a timely and cost-effective way.

The School of Nursing will work closely with HealthPartners, a Minnesota-based managed healthcare organization, and the HealthPartners Foundation, on all aspects of the project. The funding for this study was under a special call from the director of the NIH to encourage partnerships between university and community investigators to improve health.

The University of Minnesota School of Nursing is ranked among the nation's top nursing schools. It is a leader in nursing research and has a combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment of approximately 850 students. The school produces 55 percent of the faculty in Minnesota's public and private nursing schools, advanced practice nurses and nurses who can assume leadership positions. It is the oldest continuously-operated, university-based school of nursing. The School of Nursing is one of six schools and colleges in the Academic Health Center, one of the most comprehensive facilities for health professionals in the nation, fostering interdisciplinary study, research and education. For more information, visit www.nursing.umn.edu.

HealthPartners Research Foundation (HPRF), located in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropolitan area, is a not-for-profit corporation within the HealthPartners family of health care organizations. Investigators at HPRF conduct clinical, health services and basic science research that improves the health of HealthPartners members and the community. All research results are intended for the public domain.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research. Helping to lead the way toward important medical discoveries that improve people's health and save lives, NIH scientists investigate ways to prevent disease as well as the causes, treatments, and even cures for common and rare diseases. Composed of 27 Institutes and Centers, the NIH provides leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and throughout the world.