Primary Care Management of Osteoporosis in Older Women

Plain-language summary

The Investigators aim to improve primary-care for older women with osteoporosis. Older women they spoke with previously felt unseen, unimportant, unheard and uninformed. These women felt that bone/joint health was an important issue for women aged 70+. Osteoporosis is a disease that makes bones more breakable and can lead to significant pain, disability and death, costing approximately £4.4 billion a year in the United Kingdom. Women are four times more likely to have osteoporosis than men and suffer fractures earlier. Osteoporosis care is poor in primary care even though good guidelines are available. The Investigators will work with older women and healthcare professionals to help guide the research. They have already looked at published research and will build on this. They will identify what is important for both older women and professionals to inform the first interview questions. The Investigators will ask older women and healthcare professionals about the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis. They will also ask them how they manage osteoporosis as a patient or care provider. At regular intervals, the Investigators will look at the interview findings first and then share their thoughts with older women and professionals. Together they will explore what the interviews mean. These discussions may change the questions asked and who is interviewed next. The Investigators will combine all the information from interviews to identify what works well and less well in osteoporosis care. They will check these findings against the guidelines. They will continue to work with older women and healthcare professionals to develop recommendations for improving care. The Investigators will also identify areas of further work. They will share recommendations with healthcare commissioners and produce a summary for a variety of professional networks. They will also publish papers in journals aimed at healthcare professionals and produce a summary document and advice for older women to use.

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