Course Development
In 2005, The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care announced the launch of Ontario's first Osteoporosis Strategy. The goal of the strategy is to reduce fractures, morbidity, mortality and costs from osteoporosis through an integrated and comprehensive approach aimed at health promotion and disease management. One of the five focus areas is on professional education to enhance the use of best practices in osteoporosis care by health care professionals through the development of tools for practitioners, and education material for dissemination by health units.
In alignment with this focus, Osteoporosis Canada, the only national organization serving people who have, or are at risk for osteoporosis, developed the Bone Fit™ course in conjunction with an advisory committee of expert clinicians and academics in the area of osteoporosis and exercise. This group identified overall key objectives for the program to address and enlisted contributions from other osteoporosis experts to finalize the syllabus for the Bone Fit™ Clinical course. Additionally, consultations with members of the Canadian Osteoporosis Patient Network (COPN) informed course development from a patient perspective. Bone Fit™ Clinical was launched in 2010 as a two-day exercise training workshop for certified exercise and health professionals.
The Bone Fit™ Basic workshop was launched in 2012 based on an expressed need and interest from a community-based exercise specialist, and is framed upon the Clinical course. This one-day workshop provides training for certified fitness instructors, personal trainers, personal support workers and other certified exercise health professionals.
In 2013, the workshops were restructured as a collaborative learning for both the exercise health professional and community fitness professional to come together for a combined workshop with the purpose of encouraging safe exercise from clinic to community for people with osteoporosis. The ultimate goal of the Bone Fit™ Basic & Clinical workshops is to provide safe, effective, evidence-based exercises to create a continuum of care from the clinic to the community or home.