Winners of the 2005 IOF-Roche-GSK Communications Grants
Fundacion Hispana de Osteoporosis y Enfermedades Metabolicas Oseas, Spain
Project: Spanish Campaign on Osteoporosis
This ongoing initiative, to be continued in 2006, has been successfully held in some 100 municipalities over the past three years. Intensive one week informational activities are held with the cooperation of the town and county councils, housewives association, and medical and pharmaceutical associations. Through widespread local press coverage, ads, posters and brochures, the community is invited to a central location where information is given about osteoporosis and risk tests and densitometry is offered. An interactive conference on osteoporosis prevention takes place halfway though the week.
In the past these one week campaigns have proven to have wide impact in addition to the direct information offered to the public – with increased attention from political and citizen organizations and extensive media coverage.
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| Ms. Beatriz Soto Rivero accepts the award on behalf of FHOEMO. In the background, from left: Christine Phelan (GSK), Istvan Marton (Chair of IOF's Sub-Committee of Osteoporosis Patient Societies) and Stefanos Tsamousis (Roche). |
The Norwegian Osteoporosis Society, Norway
Project: Nordic Walking
This project will add Nordic Walking to the existing local community meetings arranged by the Norwegian Osteoporosis Society. Participants in the campaign will include healthcare professionals, osteoporosis patients and people at risk, pharmacies and local media. Nordic walking will be encouraged as a perfect tool to help build muscle tone and bone density, improve overall fitness and balance. The idea is also to put a new and effective focus on osteoporosis, and emphasize the importance of exercise for osteoporosis prevention and management while giving local GPS a tool which makes a difference in their treatment of patients. The focus on exercise will also offer the opportunity to use new spokesmen to get media attention (eg. sport stars and athletes). A pilot project will be run in one area of the country and then expanded to other areas.
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| Accepting the award on behalf of the Norwegian Osteoporosis Society was Mrs. Wenche Gaaserud. |
Uruguayan Rheumatology Society, Uruguay
Project: Education campaign and advertising spot for the prevention of osteoporosis in children and adolescents
This creative 12-month educational campaign for school-aged children involved doctors, teachers and parents and culminated in a TV spot that has been broadcast nationally. 1800 children at the schools involved in the project will be surveyed before and after the project in order to assess its impact. As a first step, a course on prevention of osteoporosis for teachers will be offered. Information on bone health, peak bone mass and risk factors were integrated into the teaching syllabus of the schools. A play, based on the children's story 'A Breakable Aunt' by outstanding Uruguayan writer Roy Berocay, was performed in the schools. A contest was held to award the best performance. The winning group participated in the shooting of the TV ad which was broadcast widely for six months on major TV channels. A final survey three months after the campaign showed that in the participating schools both nutritional and exercise habits had improved. See final report (PDF, 45.3 KB)
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| Drs. Vilma Chijani and Jaime Hernandez accepted the award on behalf of the Uruguayan Rheumatology Society. |
