Prevention and Rehabilitation of Osteoporosis Service
Each year, approximately 30,000 Canadians fracture their hips—the majority as a result of
osteoporosis. Many others will experience painful fractures of the spine and wrist.
A fracture (broken bone) is often the first sign that something is wrong. But, one in four women age 50 or over and at least one in eight men over age 50 has osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis makes bones fragile and increases the risk of fractures. Disability, reduced mobility and loss of independence can follow. Rehabilitation can help.
Toronto Rehab — Maximizing Life
At Toronto Rehab, we help people with osteoporosis improve their posture and their balance to reduce falls. We help them exercise, and make nutrition and lifestyle changes that increase bone density. We help them stay active, avoid injuries and stay independent.
We maximize life.
Exercise, Education and Peer Support
The Prevention and Rehabilitation of Osteoporosis (PRO) Service offers exercise, education and peer support to people with osteoporosis or those at risk of developing the disease.
Our interprofessional health care team has extensive expertise in osteoporosis prevention and treatment. Our program includes:
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Assessment – All participants undergo an initial assessment, including a bone density test, to confirm the diagnosis and severity of osteoporosis.The bone density lab is wheel-chair accessible and equipped with a ceiling lift.
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Exercise – A six-week program program of education and exercise introduces participants to safe and effective exercise.
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Education – We offer monthly educational sessions on osteoporosis care and management.
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Physiotherapy – Our physiotherapist provides individual assessment and treatment for patients with acute or chronic musculoskeletal conditions.
Finding Solutions
Toronto Rehab researchers are pushing the frontiers of rehabilitation science. We’re finding practical solutions to help individuals maintain their health and regain their independence.
We’re also sharing our best ideas and innovations to support these discoveries and ensure they are used widely to help improve the lives of people living with osteoporosis. Current osteoporosis-related research projects include:
Follow-up for prevention
Senior scientist
Dr. Susan Jaglal discovered that family physicians seldom connect wrist fractures from minor falls with osteoporosis, so older people walk around at risk for more serious fractures without being followed up on. Dr. Jaglal and her team are piloting a more integrated system for post-fracture care that will coordinate the efforts of various health care providers and community organizations to check for osteoporosis in patients with fractures and take action to prevent subsequent breaks.
Improving identification
Dr. Susan Jaglal and her team have also mounted a province-wide effort to help staff at rehabilitation units identify patients with fractures who do have with osteoporosis and offer specialized care and follow-up treatment. Unless the underlying disorder is diagnosed and treated, low-trauma fractures can happen again and again, but osteoporosis can be hard to diagnose and manage, especially in the frail elderly in rehab.
Improving prevention through bone density measurement
Physiatrist and clinical scientist
Dr. Cathy Craven is leading the way in improving prevention of osteoporosis in people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) with a new system for measuring bone mineral density. It targets the knee, which newer research shows is the most common place for fractures in people with SCI. Using this system, Toronto Rehab patients are now given annual bone density tests in the knee region to identify their fracture risk. If their risk is high, people can make diet and lifestyle changes to lower it. Dr. Craven’s team has been teaching the protocol at centres across North America. Dr. Craven is also developing North America’s first standardized practice guidelines for treating osteoporosis in people with SCI. People with SCI lose up to one third of their bone density within a year after injury. Bone loss makes people with SCI very prone to hard-to-heal fractures.