Terri and resident, blue
Excerpts From an Article on
Bone Health and Osteoporosis
Colleagues,

An article in the Personal Health column of the New York Times, October 31, may be of particular interest to you and your residents. In, A Reminder on Maintaining Bone Health, Jane Brody writes about the fact that many older adults, out of fear, ignorance or procrastination, are putting themselves at risk for a devastating bone fracture. A few excerpts of the full article are below. To read the full article, click HERE. 
Jane Brody writes:  
Osteoporosis is both underdiagnosed and undertreated. Doctors say it is underdiagnosed because many who have it fail to get a bone density test, sometimes even after they suffer a fracture. The condition is undertreated because some people avoid drug therapy for fear of side effects, while others take their medications erratically or stop taking them altogether without consulting their doctors.

While women are the far more frequent victims of osteoporosis and develop it at a younger age, men - especially those over 70 - are also at risk and even less likely than women to have the disease diagnosed and treated.

Dr. Khosla, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, suggested in an interview that before turning to drugs, people with osteopenia could try to prevent further bone loss with regular weight-bearing and strength-training exercise, adequate intake of calcium and vitamin D, not smoking and limiting alcohol consumption to one drink a day.

"Age is itself a major risk factor for fracture," said Dr. Ethel Siris, director of the osteoporosis clinic at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. Even at the same bone density, a woman of 75 or older is more likely to experience a fall and fracture than a woman of 55.

Dr. Siris explained that with age, changes in the architecture of bones diminish their strength, which can be countered by bisphosphonates. Current thinking in the field, she said, is to place women at risk of fracture on a drug like Fosamax for five years and then perhaps take a one-year drug holiday. For two other bisphosphonates, Actonel and Boniva, she suggests a drug holiday of 6 to 12 months after seven years of treatment.
Free One-hour Webinar-- click HERE to register

Join us for a free, one-hour webinar on Thursday, December 8 from 1-2 pm, Eastern Standard Time:  An Introduction to COLLAGE, The Art & Science of Healthy Aging
  • Hear from COLLAGE developers and aging service organizations and understand how an evidence-based assessment tool is improving healthy aging outcomes for the residents they support.
  • Learn about specific types of data coming from a national collaborative of aging service providers and the implications for aging service organizations.
  • Consider the rationale for the development of an evidence-based assessment tool and the value it brings to participating aging service organizations.

Resources to learn more

A few ways to learn more about COLLAGE on your own: 

  • Watch a recently produced 15-minutes video, "Excerpts from COLLAGE Healthy Aging Conversations" as well as several very short videos (each about 3-minutes) of folks commenting about COLLAGE -- click HERE.
  • Read, print or download our FAQ document -- click HERE.
  • Review, print or download several slide presentations from our annual member conference (this year held in Naples, FL) -- click HERE.
We welcome your inquiry -- best of luck with all that you're working on.

Leaders of Aging Service Organizations Talk About COLLAGE (5 min)
Leaders of Aging Service Organizations Talk About COLLAGE, The Art

Neil Beresin
Canoers in ACTION
National Program Manager
COLLAGE, The Art & Science of Healthy Aging®
 
telephone:  610.335.1283
email:  info@collageaging.org
website:  collageaging.org
blog:  blog-collageaging.org 

COLLAGE in a nutshell  

COLLAGE is a program of Kendal Outreach, LLC and the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife, an organization affiliated with Harvard Medical School. It is a membership consortium of aging services organizations including continuing or life care communities, moderate-income and federally subsidized housing programs, and home care and community-based agencies. Members of the consortium use a holistic, Web- and evidence-based assessment tool and person-centered process to advance healthy aging and improve outcomes of older adults who live independently. As of September 2011, there are over 60 non-profit sites in 22 states that participate in the membership consortium.

 

Why COLLAGE?

Through the COLLAGE assessment tools, organizations have the opportunity to measure, track and improve healthy aging outcomes both for individuals and for their community of residents. Measuring outcomes is critical; without them, communities don't know whether their programs are really working.

 

Capturing accurate and reliable resident assessment data leads to the development of personalized healthy aging plans for individuals, and provides a way to target the right programs and services to best match healthy aging needs for a campus or community.  

 

COLLAGE health and wellness data is the engine that drives all wellness program operations to help maintain and promote independence among older adults.

 

What's special about the membership consortium? 

COLLAGE offers consortium members the opportunity to use a tested,high-quality assessment 

system and to develop a data infrastructure, together. That doesn't happen very often and it's difficult for organizations to do on their own. Taking part in COLLAGE means you will also have the opportunity to share data and learn from one another -- something that is very much in sync with LeadingAge and the mission of sharing information so the whole field can improve.