Clinicians want your help to find out how much we know about bone health | Latest news

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Clinicians want your help to find out how much we know about bone health

Posted by Scott Groom

The skeletal anatomy of a shoulder joint and rib cage

A group of UHDB clinicians are aiming to raise awareness about bone health and how everyone can take simple steps to help reduce risk of fractures from poor bone health.

Stats reveal that half of women and 20% of men aged 50 and above can fracture from little or no trauma, and can easily be avoided through education about how to better look after our bones. 

Dr Michelle Hui, Consultant Rheumatologist, is leading a team who are undertaking a project to establish the general understanding of bone health amongst health professionals, non-clinical staff / the general public and those with a keen interest in sports. 

"The importance of bone health is often underestimated and the opportunity to intervene does not often occur until someone has had a fracture. However, there are things that we can do as individuals to reduce this risk. We wish to connect various groups in our community to excellent readily and freely available resources."

The team has already carried out an initial survey to establish understanding on the subject, and are keen to find out if delivering simple messages through various education tools, such as leaflets, videos, demonstrations and activities can help improve knowledge in the wider community - with the hope that this will lead to fewer avoidable fractures and patients being treated in healthcare settings. 

Dr Hui added: "We firstly assessed what various groups of people know, and it was surprising to find that generally speaking, many did not know how to maintain good bone health, and as people did want to know more about what they can do to improve their own bone health, we continued this project."

Working with organisations such as the Royal Osteoporosis Society and the International Osteoporosis Foundation, the team has created simple, easy to understand information posters which provide useful tips on how to care for your bones, including regular weight-bearing impact and muscle-resistance exercises, ensuring you eat a healthy balance diet with enough of calcium, protein and other nutrients, that smoking and alcohol excess can influence bone health, and being aware that personal risk factors, such as medications and health conditions you may have, can impact your bone health. 

How you can help

If you would like to aid this community-wide study, please complete the following survey about your knowledge of bone health. 

If you wish to leave your contact details, the team will follow up to see if the information provided is retained in a few months' time. As a thank you for taking part, there is also an option to be entered into a £100 voucher prize draw. 

If you wish to access information in a different format, such as a demonstration, informative talk or for other queries, please contact: uhdb.bonehealth@nhs.net.

Bone health education leaflets

Survey links

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