Everybody s***s: how defecation stigma reduces care quality in dementia

Purpose: This paper aims to raise awareness of the ways in which faecal incontinence can impact the provision of dementia care by examining this through the lens of stigma.

Design/methodology/approach: This paper contains a scoping review of available literature relating to faecal incontinence, dementia and stigma.

Findings: Literature was organised into three themes: the origins of the stigma, the purpose of stigma and the care context.

Research limitations/implications: Limitations of this paper include the lack of literature discussing faecal incontinence and dementia in relation to stigma.

Practical implications: Stigma regarding faecal incontinence has the potential to impact quality of life of people with a dementia and contributes towards the invisible work of unqualified care workers.

Originality/value: Stigma and faecal incontinence have only a small amount of research around them in residential dementia care.