Authors

• Lahtinen, Tuulia (Tampere University)

Keywords

diseases, enuresis, faecal incontinence, health care facilities, health services, incontinence, symptoms, urinary incontinence

Abstract

The data survey the public service provision of adult incontinence pads in Finnish medical supply distribution. The data was collected as part of the project "The pad project: Examining emergent un/sustainabilities of care".

At the beginning of the questionnaire, respondents were asked whether they had received any specialist training in incontinence and what proportion of their work involved in the distribution of incontinence supplies. The respondents were then asked how the distribution of medical supplies is organised in the municipality and what population base is served by the distribution of medical supplies. Further questions were asked about how customers can contact the medical supply distribution service, how the service is open during the week and whether the service provides customers with guidance on the use of incontinence protection.

The next question asked in more detail about the level of incontinence for which the municipality provides incontinence pads, how many incontinences pads the municipality provides, and how the distribution of care supplies works if the maximum number of incontinence pads is not sufficient for the client. In addition, information was requested about the incontinence pad models and how the client receives incontinence protection at home.

This was followed by questions about the patient information system recording practices for the distribution of medical supplies, followed by questions about the financial aspects of incontinence protection, such as the amount of money spent on free incontinence protection and the competitive tendering process for incontinence protection. Finally, respondents were asked to give their opinion on what is good and what are the challenges in the distribution of care products in their municipality.

Background variables included education level, job title, information on specialized training in incontinence protection and health care district.