12.6 Pressure Ulcer Awareness Program  

Heather Orsted; Sue Rosenthal; Gail Woodbury; Robert Ketchen; and the CAWC PUAP Task Force      

In 2003 Canadian Association of Wound Care funded a study to determine the extent of pressure ulcers in Canada; it indicated prevalence rates of 25% in acute care, 30% in nonacute care, 22% in mixed healthcare settings, and 15% in community care. The mean prevalence overall was 26%.

Recognizing this as a huge health-related problem, in 2006 CAWC funded and created a quality improvement program that in a pilot demonstrated:

• Increased awareness about pressure ulcer prevention
• Improvements in clinical practice toward a best practice approach
• Changes in policy relating to pressure ulcer prevention within facilities
• Reduction in prevalence of pressure ulcers by 35% (according to preliminary data).

The CAWC Pressure Ulcer Awareness Program (PUAP) has been designed to provide the education, processes, and tools necessary to reduce the numbers of pressure ulcers in all types of settings across Canada. The ultimate goal of the PUAP is to create a culture shift from treating pressure ulcers to preventing pressure ulcers.