The "Bone Care Nurse" Project

In: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3213843

Abstract

In today's modern societies, citizens are required to play an increasingly active role in the decision-making processes related to various areas of their lives (working, social and political). This trend also extends to the sphere of health: a person with a good level of "health literacy" is one who has the ability to take responsibility for his own health and seek basic treatments; who is familiar with the health system and able to understand the advice and instructions he receives from health professionals and thus to take an active role, with them, in the treatment process. A lack or inadequate level of any of these abilities impacts both on the health of the individual and on national healthcare costs. Nursing staff thus have an essential role to play in promoting health and constitute a determining factor in the health and wellbeing of the citizen/patient. Thanks to better understanding of the causes, easy access to diagnosis, and the possibility of receiving treatment before fractures actually occur, it is today possible to achieve effective prevention of osteoporosis and its associated complications. Prevention in this field can and must be oriented towards two different, but related, objectives: - prevention of osteoporosis;- prevention of fractures due to bone fragility in patients with osteoporosis.