The Greek challenging reality of fragility fractures and inspirations for the future
Abstract
A different type of pandemic has been challenging the last decades the global health care systems. These are the fragility fractures, which are linked with increased morbidity, mortality and impairment of the quality of life of the elderly. National health care systems are burdened with treating these demanding patients, consuming large amounts of resources, financial and medical. This fact has led to the need for more optimal utilisation of the existing resources.
Patients with fragility fractures have multiple co-morbidities and optimally they need a multi-disciplinary approach for their management. For this a team of healthcare professionals has to be formed, involving orthogeriatricians, orthopaedics, physiotherapists, anaesthetists, nurses, dieticians and many more. Another important aspect of this problem is the primary and secondary prevention of the fragility fractures, mainly by diagnosing and treating the osteoporosis and preventing the falls of the elderly population.
The Fragility Fracture Network is a global organisation with the vision to create a society where the elderly receives high quality care and have improved quality of life. Its aim is to spread the information and the means to achieve this goal globally. In the present article we discuss all of these aspects focusing on the local challenges of the Greek health care system and present some inspirations for the future.
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References
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