This World Continence Week, we’re celebrating our fantastic Continence Team. The team – consisting of Edel Hill, Caoimhe Donovan, Caroline Buckley and Eimear Daly – are experts in continence management, with special expertise in supporting people living with conditions that effect their continence and arise with neuro-physical disabilities. Accessing specialist neurogenic continence support can be challenging with limited resources, expertise and facilities.
As such, the team delivers a vital service for people in need of continence support. The team ensure referral pathways to access Crann services are as connected as possible and they engage with HSE and other healthcare providers to build relationships, share knowledge, and improve care for people with disabilities. The team regularly attend and speak on the expertise and services available at Crann, with several such industry events occurring in recent months.
Back in December, the team presented on Neurogenic Bowel & Bladder Dysfunction and Management to an audience of acute and community healthcare professionals at the Mercy University Hospital’s Centre of Nurse Education Paediatric Continence Conference.
As the only specialist neurogenic continence clinic in Munster, the team formed part of an esteemed panel which included keynote speaker Professor Nick van der Spek, Consultant Paediatrician, Cavan General Hospital and RSCI Clinical Professor, Dr Frances Enright, Consultant Paediatrician CUH, Mr Ciaran Brady, Consultant Urologist MUH/CUH and Anne Holden, Play Therapist IPTA.
The Association of Continence Professionals invited our Health & Continence team to present at their 2025 Annual Conference in February after feedback from last year’s attendees indicated that they wanted to hear more about Crann and the specialist services available at our centre.
It was hugely valuable for Crann to have a platform at this event, which was attended by healthcare specialists and suppliers from around the country, and was an opportunity for learning from people involved in the many aspects of continence support.
In April, Cork University Hospital hosted their 2025 Child & Family Nursing Conference which saw a large schedule of speakers exploring “Evolving Landscapes in Children’s Nursing” and the team submitted a poster presentation on the impact of Crann’s nurse-led Clean Intermittent Catheterisation Training on community carers like Nurses and SNAs.
Continence issues can affect both the person with a disability, and their family or carers socially, emotionally and behaviourally. Crann’s guiding research found that bridging the gaps in access to specialised continence services can have profound positive changes on the independence and freedom of the individual impacted, and reduced strain on parents and carers.
Crann operates two dedicated clinics at the centre – the Neurogenic Clinic supports people living with MS, spinal cord injury and spina bifida, while the Continence Clinic supports all other disabilities under Crann’s remit.
Professional Education courses run by our Health & Continence Team support community carers like teachers & SNAs to provide appropriate care like Clean Intermittent Catheterisation in the community. Our nursing courses, which include Neurogenic Bowel Training, are NMBI CEU accredited.
For more information about Health & Continence services at Crann visit https://cranncentre.ie/health-continence/
For more information about Professional Education at Crann visit https://cranncentre.ie/professional-education/
To start your journey with Crann for yourself or a member of your family please fill out the referral form here: https://cranncentre.ie/crann-referral-form/