About ACA

Introduction

The ACA is a multi-professional association open to all health and allied care professionals and to those who have a concern for the promotion of continence and the better management of incontinence.

At the Beginning

The ACA started in 1980 with a questionnaire sent to every Health Authority and Board in the UK seeking to identify concerned professionals. At that time there were only 19 nurses in the UK identified as Continence Advisors; now most NHS Trusts and many private healthcare organisations have staff designated as continence specialists.

Multidisciplinary Membership

As continence care has changed, so too has the complexity of members’ backgrounds; with physiotherapists, occupational therapists, midwives, hospital, practice and district nurses, health visitors, lecturers, researchers, NHS managers, health care assistants, nursing homes and doctors increasingly represented alongside the central core of continence specialists.

International Membership

The number of overseas members has also increased, reflecting that the pioneering work of the early founders has gained recognition throughout the world.