T
HE PROJECT AIMED to
reduce the potential risk to
people with osteoporosis of
accidental injury linked to moving
and handling, by increasing
awareness of the prevalence of
the condition and fracture risk. The
latter stages of the project have
been focussed on improving the
knowledge and skills of frontline
healthcare staff who, more often
than not, will be treating those with
the condition for other reasons and
may not be aware their patient has
osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a ‘silent disease’
where there are few outward signs
or symptoms until it is well advanced
or fractures are sustained. It occurs
when bone loss is greater than bone
production, causing them to become
weak and easily broken. According to
the National Osteoporosis Society one
in two women, and one in five men,
over the age of fifty who will break a
bone will do so mainly as a result of
poor bone health.
Dr Margaret Smith
Dr Smith and the research team
began by reviewing osteoporosis
literature, investigating the
in-hospital experiences of patients
diagnosed with osteoporosis, and
conducting qualitative interviews with
healthcare professionals including
physiotherapists, occupational
therapists, radiographers and nurses.
They found there was an opportunity
to improve the knowledge and
understanding of osteoporosis and
fracture risk in frontline staff.
Dr Smith said: “Osteoporosis tends
not to be the reason why people are
admitted to hospital and a person’s
condition may not be known by
frontline healthcare staff. Our funders
wanted to increase knowledge of the
prevalence of osteoporosis in the
older population, some of whom could
potentially sustain fractures because
of sub-optimal handling in acute care.”
The team also scrutinised the manual
handling literature to find out if this
covered advice on moving patients
who may have osteoporosis, and
what needs to be done to address
any education and training gaps.
Although best practice manual
handling guidelines are in place with
general principles that would cover a
range of conditions including severe
osteoporosis, health care practitioners
can’t tell by looking whether their
patient has the condition or not and
so may not appreciate the risks.
Dr S mi t h cont i nued: “ If we
can increase awareness of the
pervasiveness of osteoporosis, then
education and training will follow that
assumes the condition is a possibility
among patients. This means frontline
staff can be better equipped to deliver
more specialist, person centred care.
X-rays, for example, offer a particular
risk. Staff need be aware of the
consequences of positioning people
for procedures that could involve
applying pressure or twisting and
turning parts of the body.”
The final phase of the Lydia
Osteoporosis Project, which draws to
an end in October this year, involves
the research team in working with
IT professionals to develop a niche
osteoporosis education social
network in an interactive format for
frontline staff. When it is launched,
this initiative will draw on the expertise
of osteoporosis, manual han dling and
falls specialists, and provide links to
the National Osteoporosis Society and
further reading on the condition.
“This has been a very important
research and education project which
could have a wide reaching impact
on the way older people are cared for
in a hospital setting”, said Dr Smith.
“By increasing awareness of the
prevalence of osteoporosis, and the
steps frontline care staff should take
to practice person centred patient
handling and movement, we can hope
to go some way to improving the care
and comfort of patients.”
The full findings from the Lydia
Osteoporosis Project will be presented
later this year to coincide with the
launch of the interactive website. ❒
QMYOU / Health & Rehabilitation
17