Our overall objective is that older people with incontinence and their caregivers have more control over the dignified management of their incontinence during humanitarian crises, and are better supported by WASH, Health and Protection actors.
The research project seeks to come up with innovative approaches meant to empower older people and their caregivers to have control in managing incontinence during humanitarian crises and improve support from WASH, Health, and Protection actors through training, data collection, capacity building, and the creation of a training package for home care.
Expected outcomes:
- A Home-Based Care Training Package (HBCP): practical home-based management of incontinence, co-created with older people and their caregivers and tested in two humanitarian contexts.
- Comprehensive feedback from older people with and without disabilities and their caregivers about the most appropriate non-food items for managing incontinence in 11 different contexts.
- Participatory research with older people, including those with disabilities, into preferred products and supply modalities for managing incontinence
- Development, testing and promotion of ‘WASHington’ Group Questions across the humanitarian sector
Rationale for the research:
Research has shown that there is a lack of data regarding the scale of incontinence within humanitarian settings, particularly within older populations whose needs are often deprioritised, and a lack of understanding amongst humanitarian practitioners on what incontinence is, the causes and the potential support that can be given across WASH, Health, and Protection. A significant psychological burden felt by older people with incontinence and their caregivers, and the need for more support for individuals to be able to manage incontinence at the household level were identified as key areas of intervention. Our project seeks to address these gaps.
Methodology & Approach
The methodology for this assignment follows a participatory approach involving consultations with the steering committee members, older persons with incontinence, service providers, knowledge end-users, partners (Oxfam, MANEPO &HelpAge) and all other key stakeholders. This approach will ensure that the findings are both inclusive of the views of both the local and international stakeholders and reflective of the direct needs of the people living with incontinence, their care givers, cooperating partners, and policy makers.
Outputs:
The research project will work with over 500 older people with incontinence and their caregivers, increase the capacity within the humanitarian sector to routinely gather data on, collaborate with, and provide dignified solutions for older people and caregivers to better manage incontinence.
The three outputs of the project are as follows:
Output 1: Learn from over 110 older people with and without disabilities and their caregivers about the most appropriate non-food items for managing incontinence in different contexts
Output 2: Improve the capacity of humanitarian actors working in the WASH, Health and Protection sectors in emergency contexts using the Humanitarian Practitioners Training on Incontinence (HPTI)
Output 3: Improve the ability of the humanitarian sector to assess the prevalence and severity of incontinence routinely within crisis affected populations, through the development of a specific Washington Group style question.
The core team:
OXFAM – Lead organisation – Is a leading international humanitarian NGO with a strong focus on WASH. They have led a number of HIF funded researches, including on emergency sanitation on lighting and on user-centred approaches, including an approach called “Sani Tweaks” which aims to encourage the continuous adaptation of designs, maintenance & usage models of sanitation facilities based on ongoing consultation and understanding social dynamics, people’s preferences and coping mechanisms.
HelpAge International – Is the leading international NGO focusing on the protection and inclusion of older people living with disability in LMICs and humanitarian contexts. They work with older people, advocating for their inclusion across sectors and to ensure there is useful data related to older people in humanitarian contexts through rapid needs assessment. This is to improve the response through understanding on the diversity and situation of older people and the linkage between sex, age, disability and protection.
MANEPO is a consortium of civil society organizations working on ageing issues in Malawi. We aim to ensure that older people enjoy an environment that guarantees a dignified living regardless of age.
Time-frame: 1 April 2023 – 30 September 2024
Funding body: Oxfam GB is lead implementing agency for this project, which is 49% funded by ELRHA – HIF and 51% by Oxfam’s internal WASH Innovation Fund
Contacts:
OXFAM- Michelle Farrington (michelle.farrington@oxfam.org)
HelpAge- Marion Staunton (marion.staunton@helpage.org)
MANEPO- Andrew Kavala(akavala@manepo.org)
