The Bristol Stool Chart see Figure 7. The Health Care Assistant plays an important role in assisting clients to maintain normal elimination patterns. By following the guidelines below, you can support independence and prevent constipation.

Always ensure to check the care plan. Constipation presence of hard, dry stool that is difficult to pass is a common problem experienced in older adults. Many factors contribute to constipation; age, medications, lack of adequate fluids, fibre, and exercise, delaying urge to defecate, lack of privacy.

Frequent or constant constipation can lead to a variety of other health issues such as hemorrhoids, fecal impaction, and bowel obstruction. HCAs play an important role in preventing constipation in clients. Although prevention is key, HCAs may be involved in assisting with or caring for clients who have had other measure to address the constipation such as suppositories, enemas or disimpaction.

Following Routine Practices prevents the spread of pathogens 3. Assemble equipment and supplies:. Personal Care Skills for Health Care Assistants Copyright © by Tracy Christianson and Kimberly Morris, Thompson Rivers University.

is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4. Skip to content 7. Follow Routine Practices when assisting with elimination. Encourage exercise as appropriate. Provide assistance promptly. This is particularly important with the urge to defecate.

If the client is not attended to promptly, the result may be that the urge goes away for several hours, contributing to constipation. The other result may be incontinence.

Encourage clients to call when feeling the need to defecate. Provide for comfort and privacy as necessary. Ensure optimal positioning. Utilize adaptive devices as per the care plan raised toilet seat, mechanical lifts, commode, bed pan.

Ensure safety of the client provide the call bell and stand by if the client is unsteady. Provide peri-care after if client unable to do themselves. Record and report time and amount of stool and anything abnormal to supervisor.

Previous: 7. Next: 7. License Personal Care Skills for Health Care Assistants Copyright © by Tracy Christianson and Kimberly Morris, Thompson Rivers University. Share This Book Share on Twitter. Normal can range from 3 times a day to 3 times a week.

Some natural remedies, such as exercise and diet changes, can help people empty their bowels more regularly. Everyone experiences bowel movements differently. The frequency of bowel movements varies, but experts consider the healthy range to be from three times per week to three times per day.

Many factors can affect the ability to have a bowel movement, including diet, health conditions, and changes in routine.

A laxative is a medication that encourages a bowel movement. There are also some natural remedies that people can use as alternatives. This article looks at seven of these options. Learn more about how often to poop. A person can try some natural remedies to encourage a bowel movement.

The following sections list some actions to take, foods and drinks to try, and herbal remedies that may help with constipation. Exercise can stimulate muscles in the lower part of the digestive system.

This part of the gut removes waste from the body in the form of stool. A review of existing research suggests that low intensity exercise, such as taking a brisk walk, can be an effective treatment for constipation.

However, more research is necessary to understand how different types of exercises affect digestion. Learn more about constipation. Not being able to have a bowel movement when necessary can be stressful. Straining or forcing the body to pass stool is not healthy, so trying to relax and take enough time can help.

Certain toilet positions may make it easier for a person to pass stool. For example, raising the knees above the hips can make it easier to poop. Resting the feet on a block or stool when sitting on the toilet is one way of raising the knees.

This dried fruit is a great source of fiber , which helps move food through the digestive system. Eating a few prunes may encourage a bowel movement. While prune juice lacks the fiber of the dried fruit, both are high in sorbitol.

This is a type of sugar that can pass quickly through the gut and draws water into the gut. This can help bulk up stool and stimulate a bowel movement. Learn more about prune juice for constipation. Some people use the leaves and fruit of the senna plant as a natural laxative.

Senna is available online in liquid or tablet form. Senna takes around 8 hours to work. Some people choose to take senna before going to sleep, which allows it to work overnight. Often, this results in a bowel movement in the morning.

Senna is a natural substance that people have used for centuries to relieve temporary constipation. However, long-term use can lead to dependency, requiring higher dosages to get the same effect.

Long-term use is not advisable and can have irreversible negative effects on the digestive tract. Learn about senna tea.

Kiwifruit is high in fiber. A small study suggests that it may aid digestion. This could mean that kiwifruit might be a beneficial natural laxative to try. However, more research is necessary to find out more about its effects. Learn about the health benefits of kiwifruit. Some research suggests that hot beverages , such as coffee , may help people have a bowel movement.

A review notes that compounds in coffee can improve the motility of the digestive tract and, therefore, that coffee may help provide relief for those experiencing constipation.

Learn more about why drinking coffee might encourage bowel movements. Flaxseed is a small seed that comes from the flax plant and is rich in fiber. Fecal incontinence exercises; Neurogenic bowel - bowel retraining; Constipation - bowel retraining; Obstipation - bowel retraining; Bowel incontinence - bowel retraining.

Camilleri M. Disorders of gastrointestinal motility. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap Deutsch JK, Hass DJ. Complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine.

In: Feldman M, Friedman LS, Brandt LJ, eds. Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. Iturrino JC, Lembo AJ. Pardi DS, Cotter TG. Other diseases of the colon. Updated by: Michael M.

Phillips, MD, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, The George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.

Editorial team. Bowel retraining. Problems that may benefit from bowel retraining include: Fecal incontinence , which is the loss of bowel control, causing you to pass stool unexpectedly and involuntarily. This can range from sometimes leaking a small amount of stool and passing gas, to not being able to control bowel movements.

Severe constipation. These problems may be caused by: Brain and nerve problems such as from multiple sclerosis Emotional problems Spinal cord damage Previous surgery Childbirth Overuse of laxatives The bowel program includes several steps to help you have regular bowel movements.

DIET Making the following changes to your diet will help you have regular, soft, bulky stools: Eat high- fiber foods such as whole-wheat grains, fresh vegetables, and beans. Use products containing psyllium, such as Metamucil, to add bulk to the stools.

Try to drink 2 to 3 liters of fluid a day unless you have a medical condition that requires you to restrict your fluid intake. BOWEL TRAINING You can use digital stimulation to trigger a bowel movement: Insert a lubricated finger into the anus.