This year’s Federated Health Charities campaign runs from April 3, 2023, to June 30, 2023. During the campaign, we will highlight how each of our 21 charities works to improve the health and well-being of people across our province.
The fourteenth charity we are highlighting is Osteoporosis Canada. Osteoporosis Canada was the first organization in the world to focus on bone health and osteoporosis and is still the only national organization serving people who have or are at risk for osteoporosis in Canada.
There’s one thing Tracie Napoli, Director of Fund Development, Osteoporosis Canada, wants everyone to know: “Osteoporosis is a disease.”
Osteoporosis weakens bones to the point that they can break easily. Normally, the human body breaks down old bone tissue in the body and replaces it with new bone. In the case of people with osteoporosis, more bone is broken down than the body replaces until the bones become fragile, increasing the risk of fracture. Often people are unaware that they even have osteoporosis until they fracture or break a bone, at which point, the disease is quite advanced and less treatable.
“Oftentimes people don’t think it is a disease, and they think it’s a natural part of ageing,” says Tracie. “They think, oh, you’re getting older, it’s just what’s going to happen, and that’s actually not the case.”
Osteoporosis Canada teaches Canadians how to improve their bone health so osteoporosis can never take hold, provides support to those already diagnosed, and pursues research and treatment breakthroughs that keep more people healthy. Osteoporosis Canada also supports healthcare professionals. They were the first organization to establish guidelines for long-term treatment and exercise, and the first to introduce fracture risk assessment for people with osteoporosis.
Something as simple as a sneeze can shatter your bones.
In 2008, Gerry was diagnosed with osteoporosis.
“I was disturbed by it, because I thought I had taken reasonable steps with my health, exercise, eating properly, that sort of thing,” he says. ” I have to be very careful where I walk, watch out for a sidewalk, make sure the sidewalk is even. I could trip and then I could have a fall.”
Gerry credits the services and resources for people living with osteoporosis that Osteoporosis Canada provides with helping him to manage his disease and maintain his quality of life.
“Without the help of Osteoporosis Canada, I believe I would have lived a more constricted life. I’d be afraid to go out, I’d be afraid to take long walks,” Gerry says.
Osteoporosis Canada joined Federated Health Charities in 1992.
“The donors who make contributions to this charity have helped a lot. They’ve helped with the programs, they’ve helped with information. They don’t realize how far their contributions go to help people with osteoporosis, to help people like me,” Gerry says. “And you don’t realize it, but you’re helping people in your own family. You may even be helping yourself someday.”
“We appreciate everyone’s contribution, but when somebody can donate so that we receive funds on a consistent basis, it helps us be able to plan for the needs that we have to meet,” Tracie says. “So by giving through a payroll deduction, you’re giving us the opportunity to know where we need to spend our dollars and to plan accordingly. And that, in itself, is so valuable.”
With the help of our donors, Osteoporosis Canada and Federated Health Charities will make Canadians unbreakable.
To learn more about Osteoporosis Canada, please visit Osteoporosis Canada.
To make a payroll pledge or donation to support Osteoporosis Canada and Federated Health Charities, please visit Federated Health Charities.