A new framework for urinary continence outcomes in long-term care.

Careful assessment and individual care planning are especially important when approaching the problems of incontinence in long-term care patients. Identification of appropriate interventions and desired outcomes is assuming greater prominence. This article provides an overview of some of the issues that affect incontinence with long-term patients and presents a refined concept of several classifications of incontinence that direct approaches to care. The classifications are based on whether a patient is dependent or independent on a caregiver to achieve continence. Assumptions, goals, and evidence for effectiveness of these interventions are discussed for the four classifications. Further implications for nursing are also addressed.