Raising Awareness of Osteoporosis as a Public Health Issue: A Philanthropically Funded Project
We are incredibly thankful to our anonymous Lydia Osteoporosis Project donors, who have been fully funding this significant and impactful project, with a total value of over £1 million, since its inception over 12 years ago.
Through research and education, the Lydia Osteoporosis Project is working to raise awareness of osteoporosis among health and social care staff. In its initial stages, the main objectives of the project were to investigate the moving and handling needs of people with osteoporosis in acute care by reviewing the osteoporosis and moving and handling literature, undertaking research with health and social care staff and people with the condition to develop, and implementing and evaluating an education workshop/ package.
Over the years, the project has gained real momentum, with a number of further phases, the most recent of which (as of 2025) focused on dissemination of earlier findings through the development of the project website, videos to support consideration of bone fragility/osteoporosis when moving and handling, videos on educational and public health aspects of osteoporosis for health and social care professionals in collaboration with NHS Education Scotland and a Tik Tok video aimed at engaging younger people in improving awareness of the condition and preventative lifestyle factors. This phase culminated in our Lydia Osteoporosis Symposium, to coincide with World Osteoporosis Day 2023. This was very well attended by health and social care professionals and the public and was very well evaluated. We plan to hold symposia every two years.
We now (in 2025) move onto our next phase where we focus on embedding education on osteoporosis in the undergraduate curriculum across the University as well as supporting two PhD research projects. We are developing and providing learning materials for health and social care professionals and the public and engaging with the community in raising awareness and support for those living with or at risk of the condition.
