Editorial #3: Building an Ostomy Reference Library from Freebie Company Booklets

Contents:
Introduction
SecuriCare’s range of patient booklets
- Booklets for Ostomates
- Booklets for Health Professionals
Obtaining hard-copies of the leaflets
Downloads
With Thanks
Useful External Links

Introduction

Many of the ostomy product manufacturers produce their own range of useful and informative leaflets/booklets which they offer free of charge. Usually it’s the larger companies which also manufacture ostomy pouches/flanges that go to the trouble of creating these booklet ranges, and invariably, with them being written by such major players you can be sure that the information contained within is not only well presented but medically accurate and up to date.

I’ve seen a number of leaflet ranges over the years, and one of the best I’ve seen is produced by UK-based CliniMed under their well-respected home delivery company name –SecuriCare.

What I really like about SecuriCare’s leaflet range is whilst their range of leaflets is maybe smaller than some companies, the actual content within covers more aspects of ostomy lifestyle and management, so in fact there is much more useful information with them meaning they are actually useful to the ostomate, and not just a wolfishly big advert dressed up in sheep’s paper. Any ostomate who has a full set of their leaflets have actually gotten something similar to a mini-text book to help them get to grips with their stoma care – only the information is far more accessible than my school text books ever were!

SecuriCare also offer an excellent range of medical professional publications which go from A5 booklets for Home-Care professionals who have never faced a stoma before, and all the way up to full nursing courses to teach stoma care to the next generation of Star Trek… sorry, I mean, Stoma Care Nurses.

Their range of patient leaflets stand out for being well produced and packed with detail which gives them a larger page count than the majority of leaflets on the same subject that I’ve read over the years. A lot of company leaflets I’ve seen have been either a single, tri-folded sheet of A4, or an A5 booklet comprising of one or two pieces of A4 paper centre folded but not even stapled, and quite often they were not even printed – they would be photocopies. However, times they are a-changing and the companies are putting a lot more effort into their patient literature. And let’s face it, ostomy products are pretty expensive to buy regardless of whether you buy them direct, or get them on your medical insurance scheme, someone is paying the company for them so for them it is no doubt an investment they make with an eye on hoping to get some business from you in the future.

SecuriCare’s range of patient booklets

The SecuriCare leaflets I’ve reviewed are professionally printed A5 centre-stapled booklets (in most cases), printed on glossy paper with a high quality gsm paper stock cover. The page count of the leaflets can be up to 32 pages too, depending on the topic being covered. If you live in the UK you can order hard-copies of the leaflets directly from SecuriCare. If you live outside of the UK, or would just like to be able to download the booklets rather than have them delivered to you, then we are able to offer some of the SecuriCare booklets available for direct download from Ostomyland – please see further down this editorial for the contact details and download links.

Booklets for Ostomates

Colostomy – A Practical Guide to Stoma Care
28 pages – Includes
How the digestive system normally works / What is a colostomy?/ Why are colostomies carried out? / Before your operation / In hospital – After your operation – Leaving hospital / At home – When you return home / Stoma pouches – One piece pouches – Flushable pouches – Two piece pouches – Aperture sizes / Protecting your skin – Stoma care accessories / Changing a stoma pouch / Back to normal – Food – Drink – Travelling – Sex life – Contraception – Pregnancy / Problems that may arise with a stoma / Your questions answered / Associations and support groups.

Ileostomy - A Practical Guide to Stoma Care

Ileostomy – A Practical Guide to Stoma Care
28 pages – Includes:
How the Digestive System Works / What is an Ileostomy? / Other types of Stomas / Why are Ileostomies carried out? / In Hospital – Before Surgery – After Surgery / At Home / How to Obtain Stoma Care Supplies / Stoma Pouches / Changing a Stoma Pouch / Back to Normal – Travelling – Food – Drink – Sex Life – Contraception – Pregnancy / Problems which may arise with a stoma / Q&A / Associations & Support Groups.

Urostomy – A Practical Guide to Stoma Care
12 pages – Includes:
The Urinary System – How the urinary system usually works – With a Urostomy – How is the stoma formed – What does a stoma look like / In Hospital – Marking the site – The surgery / Leaving Hospital / Urostomy Pouches – Types of Pouches – Aperture sizes – Changing your pouch – accessories -Night time / Helpful information on the care of your stoma / Associations & Support Groups

A Step by Step Guide to Pouch Changing
6 pages – Includes:
Preparation, Changing the appliance, Emptying the appliance.

Going Home After Your Surgery
12 pages – Includes:
The First Few Weeks / Hygiene and caring for your stoma / Stoma output / Eating and drinking / Getting advice / Personal relations / Out and about / Stoma Supplies / Troubleshooting guide / SecuriCare Home Delivery Service / Continuing support.

Adjusting to a Life with a Stoma
12 pages – Includes:
Your feelings following stoma surgery – Feelings in hospital – Feelings at home / Looking and feeling good – a confident appearance – Choosing your clothes – Odour control – Preparing for accidents / Informing others – The need to know – The need to plan – How to plan / The reactions of others – Types of response – Coping with response / Useful addresses and websites.
NB: This leaflet is written by Bob Price, Lecturer, The Royal College of Nursing (London, UK), also Consultant in Body Image Support.

Nutritional Advice (For the well ostomate)
15 pages – Includes: The digestive system – Watching what you eat – The digestive surgery / What is… – Colostomy – Ileostomy – Urostomy / Tips and Hints for… – Colostomists – Ileostomists – Urostomists / Other considerations – Odour – Wind – Diarrhoea – Alcohol / Travel Advice – Flying – Holiday Tummy – Diarrhoea / Dieting / Quick reference food & drink chart / Useful addresses and websites.

Travel Advice
4 pages – Includes:
Insurance / General tips / Swimming / Travelling – Flying – Car & Train

SecuriCare Home Delivery Service
4 pages:
Introduction to the SecuriCare home delivery service.

Booklets for Health Professionals

As mentioned, SecuriCare offer a range of leaflets designed for medical personal, home help and carers. Whilst these are aimed at profesisionals they are also an extremely interesting read for patients too as it does go into basic details of the physical and health sides of stoma care management rather than the lifestyle side that patient leaflets usually address.

Examples of this leaflet series are the following…

How the Digestive System Usually Works (Stoma Care for Health Care Assistants)

Stoma Care at a Glance: A concise guide for Community Nurses
24 Pages – Includes:
Definitions of Colostomy / Ileostomy and Urostomy / Mucous Fistulas / Teaching patient self care / Nutritional advice / Constipation / Diarrhoea / Pancaking and Mucous Discharge / Problem Solved – Leakage and sore skin – Stoma complications / Common side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy / References.

Stoma Care for Health Care Assistants
32 pages – Includes:
What is a stoma? / How the digestive system usually works (see box-out, right) / Stoma operations – Colostomy – Ileostomy – Urostomy / Role of the Stoma Care Nurse specialist / Role of the SCN and HCA in the patient pathway / Effective communications – Verbal – Written / Cultural and religious considerations / Post operative care / Stoma management – recognising abnormalities / Products used in the management of stomas / Teaching the patient self-care / Basic dietary advice for patients with stomas / Safe discharge / Useful contacts & details.

If you find those professional leaflets interesting, or if you are considering stoma care as a possible career in the future, you can learn more from the SecuriCare and Nurse Learning’s e-learning course Introduction to Stoma Care which can be accessed for free at http://www.cancernursing.org. This is a Royal College of Nursing (UK) accredited scheme and since its launch in 2009 over 4000 people worldwide have enrolled, from fifty seven countries around the world. Nurse Learning is a UK-based charity which provides high quality, online learning resources for nurses and careers worldwide. THe student’s feedback for the course has been very good, with comments like these….

“I have really enjoyed doing this course and have found it very useful. As a student nurse I have had up until my current placement no stoma experience. On my current placement i come into connect with a lot of stoma patients and I really feel this course has not only allowed me to understand their situation, care and what happens surgically it has also allowed me to be a better nurse when dealing with stoma patients. Thank you”

“I did this test following an education session with the stoma nurse and it was very good with revising the knowledge learnt at that session.”

“This is the first course that I have undertaken this way and it has not only increased my knowledge but also my confidence so I would definitely recommend it”

Hand in Hand - SecuriCare's Customer & Corporate Magazine

Finally, SecuriCare also produce an ostomy magazine which is also free for mailing list subscribers, called Hand in Hand (see box-out, right). This magazine is produced to the same quality standards as the leaflets and is packed with interesting information on ostomy products, lifestyle and services. Obviously, as this is a SecuriCare magazine the products and services featured are almost exclusively SecuriCare, Welland & CliniMed based, but the information contained within is just as valuable whichever products you currently use, and who knows; after reading the magazine you may fancy giving the SecuriCare products a try. (NB: One of my future editorials for Ostomyland will concentrate on the various company ostomy magazines, and you can expect me to talk more about Hand in Hand during that article, so this is just a brief mention for now to make you aware of it).

Obtaining hard-copies of the booklets

The SecuriCare leaflets are included inside their “new patient packs” which are given out by stoma nurses in the UK hospitals, depending on the company alliances formed by the individual nursing teams. If you would like copies of any of the leaflets featured in this article, or want a copy of Hand in Hand as well as future issues, please give the CliniMed/SecuriCare customer helpline a call on 0800 585 125, or email them at info@securicaremedical.co.uk. Please don’t forget to include the names of the leaflets you would like, along with your name, address, phone number and your type of ostomy (or the patient’s ostomy, if you are contacting them on behalf of a friend or family member). Oh, and dont forget to tell them that you heard about them on Ostomyland.com please.

Downloads

SecuriCare have also kindly allowed us to host online versions of some of their publications so that even non-UK ostomates can take advantage of the reference information contained within. Not all of the booklets and magazines are currently available in download format, but as we get more we’ll add them to the list!

To open these PDF files you’ll require a copy of the free Adobe Reader client or another PDF reading program (some browsers, such as Google Chrome, can open PDFs themselves). Chances are you already have Adobe Reader on your computer, but if not then you can download it from http://www.adobe.com/reader/

Download Links:
Stoma Care Leaflets
Colostomy Booklet: http://www.ostomyland.com/downloads/securicare/securicare-colostomy.pdf
Ileostomy Booklet: http://www.ostomyland.com/downloads/securicare/securicare-ileostomy.PDF
Urostomy Booklet: http://www.ostomyland.com/downloads/securicare/securicare-urostomy.pdf
Nutritional Advice: http://www.ostomyland.com/downloads/securicare/securicare-nutritionaladvice.pdf
Home Delivery Service: http://www.ostomyland.com/downloads/securicare/securicare-homedelivery.pdf
Please note: that the SecuriCare Home Delivery Service is for UK ostomates only.
Hand in Hand Magazines
Issue 3 (2005): http://www.ostomyland.com/downloads/securicare/securicare-HinH3-2005%202005.pdf
Issue 9 (2009): http://www.ostomyland.com/downloads/securicare/securicare-HinH-2009.pdf
Issue 11 (Summer 2010): http://www.ostomyland.com/downloads/securicare/securicare-HinH11-%20summer2010.pdf

The average size of each download is 8-9MB.

With Thanks

Ostomyland would like to thank SecuriCare and especially Amanda Castle (SecuriCare Brand Manager) for all their help with the creation of this article, supplying the PDF files, and for allowing us to host the downloads of their booklets for our international readers. Thank you!

All booklet content :
© SecuriCare 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011

Useful External Links:
Clinimed website: http://www.clinimed.co.uk
SecuriCare website: http://www.securicare-medical.co.uk
Nurse Learning website: http://www.nurselearning.org

  This content has been Digiproved © 2012 Ostomyland

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