Osteoporosis Canada
Osteoporosis Canada
Osteoporosis weakens bones until they become fragile and break easily. Normally, the human body breaks down old bone tissue and replaces it with new bone. In people with osteoporosis, the body breaks down more bone tissue than it 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. Over 80% of all fractures in people over 50 are caused by osteoporosis.
Tracie Napoli, Director of Fund Development, Osteoporosis Canada, wants everyone to understand one thing: “Osteoporosis is a disease.
“Oftentimes people don’t think it is a disease, and they think it’s a natural part of aging,” Tracie says. “They think, oh, you’re getting older, it’s just what’s going to happen, and that’s actually not the case.”
Something as simple as a sneeze can shatter your bones.
Click to see video transcript
[Start of recorded material 00:00:03]
Tracie Napoli: Director, Fund Development and MARCOM, Osteoporosis Canada
Osteoporosis Canada, we are the only national organization serving people across the country to help them optimize their growing muscle health, and to also help them reduce the risk and manage osteoporosis and associated fractures.
We work to support, empower, educate and really help individuals in terms of bone health and muscle health enquiry, but in helping those who have fractured and have been diagnosed with osteoporosis to live well, safely and independently.
Osteoporosis is a bone disease. It’s about low bone mass. What happens is often people don’t know they have the disease until they break a bone. And unfortunately that is often the first symptom. Over 2.3 million Canadians are living with osteoporosis. And 1 in 3 women, and 1 in 5 men will break a bone over the age of 50 due to the disease.
Mary Collins: Client, Volunteer, Osteoporosis Canada
I had already known I had Osteo-P (osteoporosis) and I assumed that it would stay like that for several years, maybe a decade, so I was pretty surprised to learn that I had very quickly fallen into the osteoporosis category, and I felt surprised, scared and determined, I guess, to find out as much as I could to take care of myself better.
I didn’t really know much about osteoporosis before I was diagnosed. Like any disease, until you’re actually faced with it, you know about it, you know what it is, but you don’t really know much about it.
Tracie Napoli: Director, Fund Development and MARCOM, Osteoporosis Canada
I think that when people first find out they’re not always ready right away to dive into all the programs and support. It seems overwhelming. They’re also not sure what to ask their health care provider. So Osteoporosis Canada is here to provide support, to provide that journey map. To help them get whatever supports they need and also educate them.
We have a Scientific Advisory Council. All the information we put forward is vetted by top clinicians, researchers, doctors, registered dieticians right across the country who specialize in bone metabolism and osteoporosis, and that’s the information that we’re sharing.
Mary Collins: Client, Volunteer, Osteoporosis Canada
Life has changed significantly since finding out I have osteoporosis. Every day I live with it I have to think about how it affects everything I do from emptying the dishwasher, to leaning over and picking up my pets’ dish off the floor. These are things I never thought about in my life before, so I’m consciously thinking about how to protect myself throughout the day, how to get enough exercise, and then there’s the whole nutrition thing – how to eat properly and make sure I have enough Vitamin K, Vitamin D, protein, calcium and all the things I need.
Tracie Napoli: Director, Fund Development and MARCOM, Osteoporosis Canada
Osteoporosis Canada has been involved with Federated Health Charities for many, many years. We have this long-term partnership. We are able to plan because we know we are going to get funds. We are hoping to increase those funds. We are hoping individuals that are part of the program see the value and understand how important the dollars are when they make that donation.
There’s opportunity that we can come and speak to people – and that’s our opportunity to share the impact of where their dollars are going. It is so important that we continue to raise much needed dollars so that we can continue to innovate, we can continue to make an impact, we can continue to provide the tools and resources and services in the manner in which people need them.
You know, many years ago we were out across the province but if we didn’t have an actual person, we could not deliver programming. This way, we have virtual programs and services. We have digital tools. These dollars make it possible for us to reach more people across Ontario. And that’s why it’s so important.
Mary Collins: Client, Volunteer, Osteoporosis Canada
What I would like donors to understand is that their money really makes a difference.
That Osteoporosis Canada has genuinely made a difference in my life. That their dollars will have impact in the lives of people like me. And I’m so appreciative.
And I would want to thank anyone that has given any money to Osteoporosis. It’s been life changing for me.
[End of recorded material 00:04:20]
Gerry was diagnosed with osteoporosis in 2008.
“I have to be very careful where I walk, watch out for a sidewalk, make sure the sidewalk is even,” Gerry says. “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.”
Federated Health Charities has been a supporter of Osteoporosis Canada and their work to make Canadians unbreakable since 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. “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.”
Learn more about Osteoporosis Canada at Osteoporosis Canada.
Donate to Federated Health Charities today to support a healthier Ontario and a Canada without osteoporotic fractures.
Click on the button below to make a donation to Osteoporosis Canada through Federated Health Charities
For general questions:
647-278-9861
federated.health.charities
@ontario.ca
Address
315 Front St. West, 5th Floor
Toronto, ON
M7A 0B8
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For general questions:
647-278-9861
federated.health.charities@ontario.ca
Address
315 Front St. West, 5th Floor
Toronto, ON
M7A 0B8
Follow us
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