Good bowel health plays a vital role in your overall wellbeing, not just physically, but emotionally and socially too. For many people with disability or neurological conditions, managing bowel function can be complex and unpredictable. That’s where complex bowel care support through Living My Way’s High Intensity Daily Personal Activities (HIDPA) service can make a real difference.
What is Complex Bowel Care?
Complex bowel care refers to specialised support for people who need more than standard disability personal care to manage bowel function safely and with dignity.
As explained by Sarah, a registered nurse and Living My Way’s Clinical Advisor, “It is tailored to individual needs, and can include assistance with regular routines, monitoring, and interventions that help prevent complications like severe constipation or faecal incontinence.”
People who may need this level of support include those with:
- Spinal cord injury
- Neurological conditions (e.g. stroke or cerebral palsy)
- Conditions affecting nerve or muscle control
- Persistent bowel dysfunction
- Other complex health needs
These supports help ensure bowel care is effective, comfortable, and aligns with a person’s lifestyle and routines.
Why Complex Bowel Care Matters
When your bowel care isn’t well-managed, it can affect your quality of life in many ways, from physical discomfort to embarrassment and social withdrawal. It can affect your ability to leave your home so you can engage in daily life and increase your risk of preventable hospitalisation. Good bowel management helps:
- Maintain regular and predictable bowel emptying
- Prevent pain, impaction and incontinence
- Support comfort, dignity and confidence
- Reduce the risk of associated health issues
Clinical guidance can provide bowel care advice that is tailored to your unique preferences, to help to reduce the risk of infection, maintain skin integrity and promote healthy bowel movements. .
How Living My Way’s HIDPA Support Works
Living My Way offers HIDPA support – also known as high intensity daily living or complex care support – for people with disability. Our nurse-led complex bowel care is designed to be respectful, safe and tailored to what you need. Our trained Support Workers work with you and your treating health professionals to:
- Understand your individual bowel management plan (developed by our Clinical Advisor after receiving feedback from your GP, specialist and/or incontinence nurse)
- Monitor bowel habits, patterns and changes
- Assist with bowel routines in line with your plan
- Support prescribed interventions, such as colostomy care, medication administration (e.g. an enema or suppository) or other techniques, as directed by your health team
- Help maintain hygiene and comfort throughout the process
“All care is delivered with dignity, privacy and your choices at the centre,” explains Sarah “Our team prioritises your comfort and always involves you in deciding how supports are delivered.”
Personalised, Safe Support You Can Trust
Complex bowel care can feel deeply personal and at times overwhelming, especially if routines have changed or health needs have shifted. Living My Way’s HIDPA support aims to give you peace of mind by:
- Providing Support Workers that are competent and trained in complex bowel procedures
- Following your bowel management plan carefully
- Communicating with your health professionals (with your consent)
- Responding to changes in bowel function or health needs swiftly and respectfully
This high-intensity complex care support not only helps manage your physical health, but also protects your confidence, independence and dignity.
Partnering with Health Professionals for Best Outcomes
Complex bowel care works best when it’s part of a broader health plan. Your bowel management plan sets out routines and strategies that work for you. HIDPA support helps put that plan into action consistently and safely.
Together, we help make sure bowel care is predictable, comfortable and aligned with your daily life.
In Summary: Why HIDPA Complex Bowel Care Support Matters
Living My Way’s complex care service can support you or someone you care for to:
- Follow a bowel care routine that fits your body and lifestyle
- Prevent complications and promote comfort
- Have trained Support Workers respecting your dignity
- Work closely with your health team for safer, coordinated care
Everyone deserves to feel safe, comfortable and in control of their bowel care, and complex support can make that possible when it’s tailored to you.
Learn more
If you’d like to learn more about our HIPDA, our team is here to help and ready to guide you through every step.
Please reach out to the Living My Way team today. You can call us on (02) 8525 4000, email us via operations@lmwl.org.au or complete our online enquiry form.
Eligibility criteria apply for this service. Actual service will depend on your needs. Members must be 18+ years old to access HIDPA services.