Press Releases
POWDER ROOM GIVES ITS SUMMER ROAD TRIP SEAL OF APPROVAL
Toronto ON, June 22, 2009 - The Powder Room - a national program for people with overactive bladder – declares the best... and worst public restrooms in Canada through the program's Cross-Canada Powder Room Map found at www.powderroom.ca.
In an effort to raise awareness of overactive bladder – a chronic medical condition – the Powder Room leads an ongoing campaign to encourage Canadians to upload and rate public restrooms for accessibility, cleanliness and maintenance, facilities, line-ups, location and overall décor. Every spring, before summer road-trip season, the Powder Room determines the very best (and worst) public pit-stops in each province.
Summer road trip season can be stressful – kids, dogs, loads of luggage and in-laws. Add an overactive bladder into the mix, and pit stops take on a whole new meaning. The sudden "urge" to urinate, even when a bladder is not full, can comprise the direction and duration of any outing – like the call to the open road.
"How great it is that you have information about clean bathrooms and how they are rated! I am one of those people who can't stand going into public washrooms. It seems that no matter how many times I go to the bathroom before leaving my house, I still end up needing to go when I'm out," said a member of the Powder Room's online community. "I have often wondered if it is normal how many times I go to the bathroom each day."
This year's provincial winners include:
- Yukon – Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse
- Northwest Territories – Yellowknife Golf Club, Yellowknife
- British Columbia – Cactus Club Café, Victoria
- Alberta – Stone's Throw Café, Lethbridge
- Saskatchewan – Moxie's Classic Grill, Regina
- Manitoba – Selkirk Park, Selkirk
- Ontario – Antrim Truck Stop, Arnprior
- Québec – Restaurant Cosmos Café, Québec City *
- New Brunswick – Covered Bridge Visitor Information Centre, Youngs Cove
- Prince Edward Island – Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown
- Nova Scotia – Roadside Willies Smokehouse & Bar, Truro
- Newfoundland & Labrador – Fat Cat Blues, St. John's
* Restaurant Cosmos Café was also voted the Fan Favorite.
"With more than 500 powder rooms to choose from, the Cross-Canada Powder Room Map is a 'must' for anyone traveling any distance this summer – especially those with overactive bladder," says Fran Stewart, RN, a Nurse Continence Advisor at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. "Hopefully, the map persuades those establishments with less favourable ratings to clean-up their act."
And speaking of those establishments with less favourable ratings, the Rideau Centre in Ottawa and les Marchés Publics de Montréal in Montreal received two of the lowest ratings on the Powder Room website.
For more ratings, visit www.powderroom.ca.
ABOUT OVERACTIVE BLADDER
Overactive bladder affects approximately 12 to 18 per cent of Canadians. Having the sudden "urge" to urinate, even when the bladder is not full, is the primary symptom of overactive bladder and not, as some believe, incontinence (urine leakage).2,3
In a person with overactive bladder, 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 someone is in a business meeting or 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 overactive bladder by helping them to understand, manage and treat the condition. For more information on overactive bladder, visit www.powderroom.ca. The Powder Room has been made possible through an education grant from Astellas Pharma Canada, Inc., a leader in the field of urology.
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For more information and to book interviews 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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