Abena was nominated for the Kate Granger Award by the manager of the health care institution Evean Oostergouw. The institution implemented Abena Nova in one of its nursing homes in 2018 and here, the number of wet beds decreased by 76% due to the intelligent continence solution. At the same time, the implementation resulted in a 30% reduction in work pressure. Thus, the average number of changes went down from 3.5 to 2.4 per resident per day.
Abena Nova contributes to a solution for the staff shortages in health care - one of the biggest problems of this time. Moreover, a 20% cost saving was measured on incontinence care, as well as a time saving of 28%. Due to these results, Evean Oostergouw was proclaimed ‘Career Innovator 2019’ by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport in the Netherlands in January.
International recognition for compassionate care
The Kate Granger Awards are named after the English doctor, Dr. Kate Granger, who committed herself to more compassionate and patient-centered care, after being diagnosed with cancer herself. Abena won the prize in the category "team / organization". The award was presented by Secretary-General of VWS Erik Gerritsen. The other awards were awarded in the categories "individual" (won by Fleur Kapka, midwife at the Barnsley hospital in England) and "best use of innovation" (won by Galway Clinic's nurses in Ireland).The ceremony took place during the International Care Conference HIMSS Europe in Helsinki, Finland.
Abena Nova: digital continence solution with sensors and an app
Abena Nova is equipped with intelligent wearable sensors that continuously monitor the saturation level of the incontinence product. Through an app, health care professionals, such as employees at a nursing home, can view this information. And if the incontinence product is saturated, then the responsible health care professional automatically receives a signal on his or her mobile phone. This enables them to change the client’s incontinence products exactly at the right time.
Great impact on people's well-being
The use of Abena Nova has a great impact on the well-being of residents in nursing homes and other institutions, explains CEO of the Abena Group, Preben Terp-Nielsen: “By avoiding wet clothing and wet beds, the intelligent continence solution ensures that people experience less discomfort and shame. And this goes hand-in-hand with our mission: to improve quality of life for people living with incontinence.”
Relief of the work pressure in health care
The use of the digital continence solution relieves work pressure in the care sector. "Coping with incontinence among residents is a great burden for health care professionals," explains Katja Kääriä, director of Abena Finland. "Reducing unnecessary changes is a direct reduction of that physical workload. Care professionals also gain valuable time, which they are able to spend on other important care tasks.”
About Abena
Abena is a Danish family-owned company with over 1,800 employees worldwide, and the company is active in 55 countries. Abena is committed to developing and delivering health care solutions that improve people’s quality of life. In collaboration with the American technology company MediSens Wireless, Abena developed the intelligent continence solution, ‘Abena Nova’, for which it today received the European ‘Kate Granger Award for Compassionate Care’. In 2018, Abena also won the National Health Innovation Award.
More about Abena Nova: www.abenanova.com