Ask an OAB Nurse Now Available on SeekWellness.com

September 28, 2007, Concord NH – A free service that allows visitors to ask questions about incontinence and related topics and receive answers from experts is now available on SeekWellness.com at www.seekwellness.com/askanoabnurse/. The questions are submitted anonymously and are answered by a panel of nurse specialists in pelvic health.

Diane K. Newman, RNC MSN, CRNP FAAN, a certified nurse practitioner and internationally-known authority on incontinence is in charge of the program. According to Newman, “Urinary Incontinence (UI) is the unwanted leakage or loss of urine. Overactive bladder (OAB) is the uncontrollable urinary urgency and frequency usually experienced with UI”. These two conditions are very common in the United States and are estimated to afflict 33 million Americans. More than two thirds of the persons with UI and OAB are women. The total annual cost of providing care for persons with UI is estimated to be $28 billion.

“The inability to control urine is one of the most unpleasant and distressing problems from which a person can suffer, often causing isolation, depression and physiological problems,” continues Newman. “In addition to the drain on the patient, UI is also a burden for family caregivers and the community, and the major reason aging parents are put into nursing homes. Unfortunately, many people with incontinence are too embarrassed to talk about it or don’t think it can be successfully treated.”

“For example,” Newman says, “patients with overactive bladder (OAB) tend not to tell their health care providers about their symptoms and ‘episodes’. Additionally, many health care providers do not ask about urinary control problems, at least as a matter of routine or as part of an overall health assessment. OAB is quite common but, according to a recent study, only one out of four women with symptoms of OAB with urinary incontinence (UI) seeks clinical help. OAB is both mis-diagnosed and under-treated, partly due to the ‘stigma’ attached to bladder control problems and partly due to the rampant misconceptions that exist among patients that inhibit them from seeking care.”

“The Ask an OAB Nurse feature is our attempt to address these issues with patients,” explains Newman. “Our visitors can search other people’s questions and our answers to them without learning anyone’s identity and, if they can’t find a relevant answer, they can ask us their own question easily. The visitor receives a reply by email and his identity is stripped from the question and answer, which are then added to the database for other people to use. We answer all questions and try to help our visitors find the information, support or products they need to solve their incontinence problems.”

Wellness Partners, LLC was formed in 2001 by a group of healthcare professionals who want to put the “heart” back into healthcare. They hope to empower consumers and form partnerships with them to change the health care system through education, interaction and support. Most importantly, they want the consumer to seek wellness always.

Access their web sites at:
• www.seekwellness.com
• www.sephiaschoice.com
• www.ContinenceNurse.net

For more information, contact Josee Archer at 800 840-9301.