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ABENA wins

‘Kate Granger Award for Compassionate Care’ for the intelligent continence solution ABENA Nova with MediSens 

Wednesday, June 12 2019

ABENA wins European Care Award ‘Kate Granger Award for Compassionate Care’ for the intelligent continence solution ABENA Nova. 

European award for the care of tomorrow 

Aabenraa, Denmark – ABENA received this European award for the digital continence solution ‘ABENA Nova with MediSens’, with which it also won the National Innovation Award last year. 

ABENA was nominated for the Kate Granger Award by the manager of the health-care institution Evean Oostergouw. The institution implemented ABENA Nova in one of its nursing homes in 2018 and here, the number of wet beds decreased by 76% due to the intelligent continence solution. At the same time, the implementation resulted in a 30% reduction in work pressure. Thus, the average number of changes went down from 3.5 to 2.4 per resident per day.  

ABENA Nova contributes to a solution for the staff shortages in health care – one of the biggest problems of this time. Moreover, a 20% cost saving was measured on continence care, as well as a time saving of 28 %. Due to these results, Evean Oostergouw was proclaimed ‘Career Innovator 2019’ by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport in the Netherlands in January. 

HIMSS: Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society

International recognition for compassionate care 

The Kate Granger Awards are named after the English doctor, Dr. Kate Granger, who committed herself to more compassionate and patient-centered care, after being diagnosed with cancer herself. ABENA won the prize in the category “team/organization”. The award was presented by Secretary-General of VWS Erik Gerritsen. The other awards were awarded in the categories “individual” (won by Fleur Kapka, midwife at the Barnsley hospital in England) and “best use of innovation” (won by Galway Clinic’s nurses in Ireland). The ceremony took place during the International Care Conference HIMSS Europe in Helsinki, Finland. 

Great impact on people’s well-being 

The use of ABENA Nova has a great impact on the well-being of residents in nursing homes and other institutions, explains CEO of the ABENA Group, Preben Terp-Nielsen: “By avoiding wet clothing and wet beds, the intelligent continence solution ensures that people experience less discomfort and shame. And this goes hand-in-hand with our mission: to improve quality of life for people living with incontinence.”

HIMSS: Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society

You don’t want to stimulate people who are restless by taking them to the toilet unnecessarily. And for bedridden residents, unnecessary changes can lead to defensive behavior through shame, sadness, or anger.” 

Ine van Gestel, Caregiver and NOVA ambassador at ZGEM

Relief of work pressure in health care

The use of the digital continence solution relieves work pressure in the care sector. “Coping with incontinence among residents is a great burden for health care professionals,” explains Katja Kääriä, director of ABEA Finland. “Reducing unnecessary changes is a direct reduction of that physical workload. Care professionals also gain valuable time, which they are able to spend on other important care tasks.”


ABENA is a Danish family-owned production and commerce company with over 1,800 employees worldwide, based in Aabenaa in Denmark.  

The Group is represented by subsidiaries in numerous countries, supplying more than 39,000 different products to over 90 countries worldwide. 

ABENA is committed to developing and delivering health-care solutions that improve people’s quality of life. 
In collaboration with the American technology company MediSens Wireless, ABENA developed the intelligent continence solution, ‘ABENA Nova’, for which it today received the European ‘Kate Granger Award for Compassionate Care’. 

In 2018, ABENA also won the National Health Innovation Award. 

Press & Media Contact

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Eva Sand

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6200 Aabenraa, Denmark