An Impactful Future for Unused Incontinence Supplies After Hospice Care

By Allen Serfas, President & Co-Founder of Assistance Home Care

This week, I drove to the St. Charles Senior Center with my car full of dozens and dozens of packages of unopened incontinence supplies filled the back of it, all donated through our friends at St. Croix Hospice.

It may sound like a simple delivery, but I kept thinking about the family on the other side of those boxes.

What Happens to Unused, Unopened Incontinence Supplies After a Loved One Passes Away?

Families who have experienced hospice care may know this moment.

A loved one passes away, and after the immediate arrangements have been made, someone eventually starts going through the bedroom, bathroom or hall closet. Alongside everything else are packages of supplies that are still completely unopened.

Incontinence products. Briefs. Pads. Protective underwear.

Families may assume those items can simply go back to the hospice agency. In many cases, however, supplies that have already been delivered to a patient’s home cannot simply be returned to the agency and placed back into use.

That leaves families with another decision at an already difficult time.

Throwing perfectly good supplies away feels wasteful. Keeping boxes that are no longer needed can feel equally difficult.

Our friends at St. Croix Hospice gave one family another option. They called Assistance Home Care to engage and assist with coordinating a local Senior Center donation of the unused incontinence supplies.

We picked up a patient’s unopened supplies and delivered the incontinence supply boxes to Aging Ahead’s St. Charles Senior Center, where the donation can now make their way to older adults in our community who need them.

A Small Donation Can Relieve a Real Expense For Local Seniors, Older Adults & Family Caregivers

The need for incontinence supplies is something many families experience but few talk about openly.

These products are a recurring expense. For an older adult living on a fixed income, even everyday necessities can compete with groceries, medications, transportation and other monthly costs.

A package that would otherwise sit unused in someone’s closet can mean something very different to another family.

That’s why getting these supplies back into the community matters.

And it doesn’t require a complicated donation drive or large community initiative.

Sometimes it starts with one hospice professional asking, “Is there somewhere this family can donate these?”

Hospice Teams Can Help Make the Connection For Donating Unused Incontinence Supplies to Local Area Agencies on Aging

Our hospice partners are often the people standing beside families during some of the hardest days of their lives.

If a family has unopened incontinence supplies they no longer need, there may be an opportunity to give those items a second purpose rather than letting them go to waste.

Unused, unopened incontinence supplies can be dropped off at any Aging Ahead senior center or at an Assistance Home Care office in St. Louis, St. Charles or Ellisville.

And if getting the supplies there is the obstacle, reach out to us. We’ll do what we can to help connect the dots.

The important requirement is simple: products must remain unopened.

Special Thank You to St. Croix Hospice

We’re grateful to our friends at St. Croix Hospice for making the call and thinking beyond the immediate moment.

Hospice care extends far beyond medical needs. It means supporting families through an incredibly personal season of life, including the questions and decisions that come afterward.

This donation is a great example of what can happen when organizations serving older adults communicate, collaborate and recognize opportunities to help one another.

Dozens of packages that one family no longer needed are now available to support older adults right here in our community. That’s a pretty worthwhile trip!

Have unopened incontinence supplies to donate in the St. Louis or St. Charles area?

Connect with an Aging Ahead senior center or contact Assistance Home Care to learn more about local drop-off options.