A Whole Woman Strategy and Action Plan to Raise National Awareness About Osteoporosis

The University of Maine Center on Aging, in partnership with the Maine Center for Osteoporosis Research and Education, was one of three grantees taking part in a U.S. Administration on Aging-funded project to develop a national osteoporosis awareness and action plan targeting postmenopausal womenThe University of Maine Center on Aging’s portion of the research entailed several phases of activity. Initially, focus groups were conducted with 147 ethnically and racially diverse older women around the country (Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, California, and Kansas) to determine where older women obtain their health information, what they consider reliable and unreliable informational sources, and where they’ve gotten information in the past that has resulted in changes in their health behavior. The second phase focused on researching existing osteoporosis education programs and previous or ongoing campaigns to ascertain what programmatic elements have been most and least effective. Phase three entailed obtaining feedback from 13 focus groups with 122 ethnically and racially diverse older women around the country (California, Illinois, Georgia, Maine, and New York), concerning mock brochures, graphics, and messages for the campaign as well as ideas about spokespeople and promotional items.The report concludes by making a series of recommendations for implementing a nation osteoporosis education program based on the data gathered through the three research phases