Businesses throughout Donegal have been urged to provide sanitary disposal facilities in their male public restrooms for the disposal of incontinence products by men suffering from this condition.
The calls were made by leading experts in hygiene, Initial, following the Irish Longitudinal Study on ageing that found that 1 in 7 older adults in Ireland experiences urinary incontinence and that 25% of those affected experience limitations in their normal activities because of this.
According to Initial, incontinence is an issue affecting many older people in Ireland, both men and women.
Dr Susmita Sarma, President of the Continence Foundation of Ireland said: “There is a lot that businesses can do to help facilitate those suffering from incontinence.
“It is a condition which is often overlooked and which affects many Irish people,” she added.
“The provision of sanitary disposal facilities in men’s public bathrooms would be an important step for businesses to take in order to make their lavatories more accommodating.”
While many businesses provide sanitary disposal bins in their female bathrooms, men are often overlooked in this regard.
As a result, men suffering from incontinence cannot dispose of their incontinence products in a hygienic way.
Richard Faulkner, Technical Field Consultant with Initial said: “All public washrooms should have hygienic disposal facilities available.
“Without sanitary bins in place, people either cannot dispose of their incontinence products or resort to using regular waste bins or toilets for disposing of them.
“This is both unhygienic and unsafe.”