PHILADELPHIA (October 27, 2020)—Essity, a global hygiene and health company and the maker of TENA incontinence and skin care products, announced that the company is beginning a pilot program of its TENA SmartCare Change Indicator, a new digital health technology that reduces the need for manual checks of incontinence products through a digital sensor linked to a smartphone app. The pilot program follows the product’s regulatory clearance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received earlier this year.
The innovative solution notifies caregivers via smartphone when they should consider changing TENA absorbent products for the people they are caring for. In doing so, the technology aims to help caregivers in long-term-care facilities and in-home settings provide higher quality, more individualized and efficient continence care, while improving the safety, wellbeing and experience of residents and loved ones.
According to the National Association for Continence, an estimated 17 million Americans have daily urinary incontinence, which can be an emotional and physical burden on individuals and their caregivers. In fact, more than half of U.S. caregivers surveyed by TENA say they feel frustrated for having to invade the personal privacy of those they are managing incontinence for. Conducted globally in December 2019, the survey also found that a majority of Americans receiving care for urinary incontinence say they feel embarrassed about having to manage it, while three in four feel like they have lost their dignity as a result of the condition.
“The TENA SmartCare Change Indicator combines more than 50 years of TENA industry expertise with the latest technology to transform continence care by putting real-time, fact-based information in the hands of caregivers,” said Axel Nordberg, Ph.D., Global Brand Director, IQ Solutions, Essity. “The COVID-19 pandemic has created new and increased demands on the way care is provided in the United States. This new, technology application can minimize unnecessary contact and enable small adjustments that we believe will result in a big, positive impact in the lives of care home residents, loved ones and their caregivers.”
The TENA SmartCare Change Indictor is a reusable sensor that can be easily attached to the outside of select TENA absorbent product to digitally track the degree of urine saturation. When it is time to consider changing the product, caregivers are notified in real-time through the TENA SmartCare Professional Care or Family Care app on their smartphone.
By giving caregivers the information they need to change products at the right time—not too soon or too late—the technology helps alleviate feelings of worry and frustration often associated with managing urinary incontinence. As a result, caregivers will realize greater confidence with their residents and loved ones and more time to complete other tasks in their care routines.
For professional care homes in particular, that are facing new levels of accountability and risk amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the technology helps reduce unnecessary person-to-person contact and provides electronically-recorded information for greater visibility into what care is provided to residents and when.
The technology also minimizes the need for individuals to communicate to their caregivers that their incontinence product needs changing. This is especially useful if changes need to happen overnight or when communication is not possible. Overall, these benefits help improve the quality of continence care by helping to reduce the risk of undignified leakages and prolonged skin exposure to urine, which can lead to other health risk factors.
The TENA SmartCare Change Indicator is the latest innovation in the TENA SmartCare range of digital health technologies that improve and create more individualized continence care. The line also includes TENA Identifi, another sensor technology designed for acute-care and long-term-care facilities to track individual voiding patterns over a 72-hour period. First introduced to the North American market in 2014, TENA Identifi eliminates manual recording processes and generates evidence-based reports that can help professional caregivers improve the quality of care for patients and residents.
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