Know Your Bones, an Australia-first, freely available online tool that helps consumers to assess their own risk of bone fracture, celebrated a number of achievements this month.
Two major milestones were reached, marking 50,000 visitors to the website knowyourbones.org.au, and 10,000 people completing the Know Your Bones self-assessment.
Know Your Bones was launched in June 2016, and is the inaugural project of the Bone Alliance, a partnership between the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and Osteoporosis Australia. The Know Your Bones online assessment takes approximately five minutes to complete and provides consumers with a personalised estimate of bone fracture risk, as well as further information to discuss with their GP.
Osteoporosis, a disease of reduced bone strength and increased fracture risk, is a major national health issue, affecting over 1 million Australians. Importantly, proper management of osteoporosis could reduce the risk of a subsequent fracture by as much as 80% – yet less than 20% of people who come to medical attention for a fracture are investigated and treated to prevent further fractures. The Bone Alliance is seeking to change this.
Greg Lyubomirsky, CEO of Osteoporosis Australia, says, “Reaching these milestones is the result of a great collaboration and partnership with Garvan and will have an ongoing impact on Australians. It simply means that thousands of consumers have used Know Your Bones to assess their risks for poor bone health and be aware of what needs to be done to improve and take action for their health.”
A campaign to raise awareness of Know Your Bones and to encourage Australians to become involved in their own bone health was run by VIVA! Communications, a leading Australian health and wellness communications agency. The success of the Know Your Bones campaign to date was recognised with a Highly Commended award in the ‘Health Organisations’ category at the National Golden Target Awards, the annual awards event of the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA), held on 14 November.
Professor Peter Croucher, Head of Garvan’s Bone Biology Division, says, “These achievements reflect the hard work of so many, beginning with the scientists behind the Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study, which transformed our understanding of osteoporosis.
“The PRIA award recognises the importance of the Know Your Bones campaign for Australian health and the figures show that thousands of Australians are responding by getting on board with the management of their own bone health.”
Garvan and Osteoporosis Australia encourage you to visit knowyourbones.org.au, and take that first step to managing your future bone health.