EXERCISE PRESCRIPTION TO SUPPORT THE MANAGEMENT OF OSTEOPOROSIS Healthy Bones Australia develop exercise statement for Physiotherapists and Exercise Physiologists
With
Professor Belinda Beck, Exercise Science, Griffith University &
Owner and Director, The Bone Clinic &
Member of Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee, Healthy Bones Australia (formerly Osteoporosis Australia)
Australian Health Journal segment
Filmed in Southport, Queensland | March 2025
In Australia, more than two thirds of people over the age of 60 have osteoporosis or osteopenia. An estimated 183,000 fractures related to poor bone health occurred in 2022. Osteoporosis and related fractures affect individuals, their carers, and the wider healthcare system, costing $2.59B per year for fractures alone.
Osteoporosis is commonly managed medically and typically with treatment. Exercise is also essential in the management of osteoporosis but tends to be under-utilised due to lack of knowledge and unfounded concerns about the risk of injury. In fact, optimal care of people with low bone mass, osteoporosis and/or increased risk of falling can and should include targeted exercise to help prevent osteoporotic fracture.
Osteogenic exercise is important throughout life – in youth to optimise peak bone mass and in adulthood to minimise loss. The exercise recommendations in the current statement, however, are targeted at older adults as osteoporosis typically occurs in the later years. In light of the increased skeletal fragility of osteoporosis, it is recommended that the following exercise prescription be supervised by a clinical exercise physiologist or physiotherapist. Such expertise is required to assess co-morbidities and exercise capacity in order to appropriately individualise the exercise prescription.
Most exercise provides health benefits, and some activity is always better than none. However, specificity and overload are required to improve bone mass and strength, and high challenge balance training is required to prevent falls.
In early 2024, Healthy Bones Australia released a summary of the principles of osteogenic loading and fall prevention, the translation of those principles into clinical practice, evidence-based recommendations for exercise prescription, and special considerations, along with links to several relevant resources for people with or at risk of osteoporosis, falls and fractures.
The document is based on the latest research and developed by an expert Working Group, Advisory Committee and following a National Roundtable. The guidance in the exercise statement acts as a recommendation or exercise prescription for supervised program delivered by clinical exercise physiologists or physiotherapists.
Source: Healthy Bones Australia, Exercise Prescription to Support the Management of Osteoporosis For Physiotherapists and Exercise Physiologists (February 2024)
-
Clinical pain neuroscientist talks about how the brain processes pain information
Persistent pain affects one in five Australians and costs the nation an estimated $73 billion per year in health system costs, lost productivity and other financial costs.
Persistent pain also has debilitating personal costs – negatively impacting quality of life and the ability to engage in meaningful work and life activities.
Despite the enormity of this problem, very few effective treatments exist with most showing only small to moderate improvements. New treatments are desperately needed. The group believes the best way to create impactful change is to work with people with lived experience of persistent pain to devise solutions with them, not for them.
-
Significant funding announced for NSW biomedical researchers
The Snow Medical Research Foundation (Snow Medical) has announced a new $24 million investment in three outstanding Australian biomedical researchers through its prestigious Snow Fellowships.
These Fellows will tackle major global health challenges spanning autoimmune disease, neurological disorders, and genetic disease. Their work addresses conditions that disproportionately affect vulnerable and underserved populations, including First Nations communities, while advancing precision medicine and translational care. Collectively, their research aims to deliver safer vaccines, better diagnostics, and more equitable genomic and neurological healthcare.
-
New bar for cosmetic plastic surgeon accreditation
Population screening is an important contributor to advancing health outcomes through the early detection of and successful intervention for chronic disease. The evolution of science, technology and evidence relating to diseases which are or may be amenable to a population screening approach deserve broad discussion and the sharing of expertise and evidence. They also warrant close scrutiny in context of health policy and health resource allocation considerations.
In March, Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) convened Screening Conference Conference 2025 with the theme of ‘Population Screening for Chronic Disease – Maximising Benefits, Minimising Harms’.
