Orthocare Innovations Receives NIH Phase II Award to Develop Long Term Care Incontinence Management Device
April 07, 2008
Orthocare Innovations received notification from the National Institutes of Health that it has been awarded a $750,000 Phase II research award from its National Institute of Nursing Research. This award is to support the work of Orthocare's eldercare technologies group in the area of incontinence management.
Incontinence is a significant clinical, public health and quality of life issue accounting for more than $36 billion in costs annually. According to the American Geriatrics Society, urinary incontinence affects roughly 50% of all residents in long term care and is often a determining factor in the decision to transition a senior into an institutional setting.
The focus of this Phase II award is to address the increasing quality of care challenges presented by incontinence, especially in long term care settings, by applying a technology solution to the growing disparity between the size of the frail and elder population and the workforce available to care for this population. Phase II efforts will build on initial work that demonstrated a 44% reduction in skin exposure to moisture in incontinent residents through deployment of a targeted technology-based intervention.
Orthocare seeks to improve staff productivity through use of technology to reduce the total time required to deliver incontinence care, while simultaneously improving individualized care provided to residents. The overall potential benefits include improved quality of life for residents, higher staff productivity, and reduction in cost and suffering caused by skin breakdown related to time spent in wet conditions.
Orthocare Innovations, LLC is a medical device research and development company focused on the non-invasive orthopedic and eldercare markets. OrthoCare operates from facilities in Washington, D.C., Seattle and Oklahoma City.
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