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Join the search for Canada's best restrooms
Education program launches Cross-Canada Powder Room Map
Toronto, Ontario, March 6, 2008 - Long line-ups! Out of toilet paper! Doors without locks! Most Canadians have experienced their own personal restroom frustrations at one time or another. But for the 12 to 18 per cent of Canadians with overactive bladder (OAB), the stress and discomfort associated with using public restrooms can become a common occurrence. The Powder Room - a new, unique and interactive program designed to educate Canadians on OAB by providing information on symptoms, lifestyle tips and management techniques - aims to improve the restroom experience by launching the Cross-Canada Powder Room Map campaign to find the best restrooms in Canada.
THE CROSS-CANADA POWDER ROOM MAP
Canadians are asked to visit www.powderroom.ca and rate public restrooms across the country. Restrooms will be evaluated on a five-star rating system based on accessibility, line-ups, cleanliness, location and overall decor. The highest-rated restrooms will be awarded the "Powder Room Seal of Approval" this summer - guiding travelers to the best pit-stops just in time for road-trip season.
"Anyone who has to use a restroom every few hours - which is most of us - worries about having limited access to adequate restrooms when travelling," says Fran Stewart, RN, a Nurse Continence Advisor at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. "I love the Cross-Canada Powder Room Map for this reason - it's a great interactive tool to help us all plan our trips accordingly. It's also a great resource for my patients with overactive bladder."
The Cross-Canada Powder Room Map campaign was developed to help individuals with OAB find better ways to manage their condition. The Powder Room website also provides materials that can be downloaded free of charge including:
- A Quick Guide to Overactive Bladder: A brochure providing facts on OAB. This brochure is suitable for individuals with OAB, family and friends, as well as healthcare professionals.
- Wallet Card: A unique and handy resource for anyone who travels, this card explains how to ask for the powder room in nine different languages!
ABOUT OAB
Having the sudden "urge" to urinate, even when your bladder is not full, is the primary symptom of OAB and not, as some believe, incontinence (urine leakage).1,2
In a person with OAB, the bladder muscle begins to contract while the bladder is filling with urine, rather than when the bladder is full. The individual experiences a sudden need to go to the restroom, which can be difficult to manage and inconvenient, especially when in a business meeting or while travelling.
ABOUT THE POWDER ROOM
The Powder Room is a national and fully bilingual educational program developed in collaboration with Canadian healthcare professionals. The program works to improve the quality of life of individuals with OAB by helping them to understand, manage and treat the condition. More information on the Powder Room can be found at www.powderroom.ca. The Powder Room has been made possible thanks to an educational grant from Astellas Pharma Canada, Inc., a leader in the field of urology.
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For further information or to arrange an interview with Fran Stewart, please contact:
Communications MECA
416-425-9143 or 1-866-337-3362
REFERENCES
- Kelleher C, et al. Improved Quality of Life in Patients with Overactive Bladder Symptoms treated with Solifenacin. BJU International 2005; 95:81-85.
- Wein A, Rackley, R. Overactive Bladder: A Better Understanding of Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Management. J Urology 2006; 175:S5-S10.
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