Improving Outcomes for Women through Increased Awareness of Urinary Incontinence - Urinary incontinence (UI) is a pervasive yet underdiagnosed and undertreated condition affecting nearly 100 million women in the United States. UI disproportionately affects women due to factors such as pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause, and can lead to feelings of isolation, anxiety, and depression. Despite its prevalence, societal stigma and lack of awareness often lead to silent suffering and delayed treatment. Studies show that only 1 in 4 women will ever seek treatment, exacerbating the physical, emotional, socioeconomic, and economic burdens of UI. Healthcare providers (HCPs) and public health professionals (PHPs) are not equipped to manage this condition. Providers lack resources and training on UI, leading to delays in diagnosis and treatment—averaging 6.5 years from symptom onset. Diagnosis and treatment delays lead to adverse outcomes, such as reduced physical activity, mental health challenges, and falls, driving up unnecessary costs, estimated to be over $80 billion. In the same spirit as President Biden’s recent Women’s Health Executive Order, NAFC is pleased to propose a multifaceted approach to address this pressing public health issue through this grant. By addressing UI comprehensively, we aim to alleviate the burden on individuals affected by UI, many of whom are menopausal women; foster a more effective and equitable approach to UI care delivery; and make the healthcare system work better for UI care. Our project seeks to increase awareness and understanding of the impacts of UI and best practices to support individuals struggling with UI among HCPs, PHPs, and the public. This grant will allow us to perform much-needed research and analysis of current evidence on the condition's prevalence, impacts, and care access and treatment issues. In addition to reviews of existing tools and literature, we will develop and field new, expertly informed patient surveys on UI. Findings will be compiled to generate a first-ever national indicator report to inform UI policy and practice. We will also design targeted training programs, materials and toolkits to equip PHPs and HCPs with the necessary skills and resources to deliver patient-centered UI care effectively as identified through our research efforts. We will evaluate and define best practices for screening, prevention, referral, treatment, and management of UI in women, and supplement existing materials where gaps exist. Leveraging NAFC’s partners’ and collaborators' vast, national networks, we will broadly disseminate the indicator report and additional educational materials to PHPs and HCPs around the country in various settings from physician offices to community health centers and other community-based organizations. Leveraging a variety of channels including direct outreach, web-based educational campaigns, website materials, webinars, social media, conferences, and others we intend to reach more than 70,000+ HCPs and PHPs. Importantly, this research will also inform the development of patient-facing materials to be disseminated via a multi-faceted, innovative educational campaign. Materials will include fact sheets, physician discussion guides, and more. Leveraging social media and web-based efforts, as well as point-of-care, digital campaigns targeting 200,000+ women—just as the patient is seeking care with their clinician—we commit to broadly disseminating UI information to hundreds of thousands of women annually. We feel confident that with the collective efforts of NAFC and our partners, we will increase awareness and promote evidence-based practices to facilitate earlier diagnosis, management, and potential preventive strategies, leading to improved quality of life for millions of Americans with UI. Moreover, our efforts aim to reduce the direct and indirect costs to the healthcare system and foster a more sustainable and equitable approach to UI care delivery.
