Care Plans

National Continence Helpline

8am - 8pm Monday to Friday AEST Talk to a continence nurse

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What is a toileting plan?

A toileting plan is a document that has instructions on how to help the person you support reach and use the toilet at a set time. To be effective, all the people who support them must follow the plan.

Regular and prompted toileting helps to set up a toileting routine. The goal is not to change toileting functions, but to improve continence by helping the person reach and use the toilet at the best times for them. This means they are less likely to experience incontinence.

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How are toileting plans made?

A detailed continence assessment is done before a continence nurse advisor or other health care professional writes the toileting plan. This is to make sure the person's individual needs are included in the plan. Click here for more information about Continence assessments.

The plan:

  • will be specific to the person and include exactly what help the person needs, including any aids, such as continence pads
  • may include specific times the person needs to be helped to the toilet
  • can include the behaviours to look for that tell you the person needs to use the toilet.

You should always read, understand and follow the care plan, as it tells you what the person needs.

A toileting plan may need to be reviewed by a continence nurse advisor or other health care professional if it doesn't seem to be working. You should speak to your supervisor or care coordinator to organise a review.

Who can help?

A continence nurse advisor can:

  • work out the person's needs
  • design a plan specifically for them
  • review plans if they are not working or if the person's needs have changed.

Other health care professionals, including an occupational therapist, physiotherapist, behavioural psychologist and the person's general practitioner (GP), can also help with toileting plans.

Need more help? Call the National Continence Helpline on 18OO 33 OO 66 and talk to a continence nurse advisor.

Take the Quiz

Question 1

A continence nurse advisor:

isn't able to help with a toileting plan

can help with a continence assessment but not a toileting plan

doesn't need to do a continence assessment before developing a toileting plan

can design a toileting plan after a continence assessment.

Question 2

Toileting plans:

are developed after a continence assessment

includes times the person needs to use the toilet

are specific to the person

all of the above.

Question 3

Once a toileting plan has been developed:

it should never be changed

it may need to be reviewed

the person should be more independent

is only helpful for a few days.

Question 4

You must always follow a toileting plan because:

it gives information about what continence aids the person uses

it gives information about behaviour to look for

it tells you what the person needs

all of the above.

This information is not a substitute for independent professional advice.