okenawa
a unique course in Switzerland to prevent osteoporosis.
a unique course in Switzerland to prevent osteoporosis
since october 2023, a health and osteoporosis prevention course is offered in the municipality of Villars-sur-Glâne. Developed by the company okenawa, founded by health and sports professionals – partly from the Fribourg hospital (HFR) –, this course offers specifically adapted physical exercises, particularly for people suffering from osteoporosis. These exercises are presented on sixteen panels located around the Platy sports center. This project, the result of a collaboration between okenawa and the Villars municipality, offers a new tool for prevention and monitoring, which is already generating great interest in French-speaking Switzerland.
at the origin of this project, an observation: patients who have suffered fractures or have osteoporosis sometimes find themselves helpless once their treatment is over.
“medical treatment addresses the fracture, the laboratory analyzes the health of the bones, patients undergo physiotherapy sessions, and then, nothing more,” laments Dr benoît fellay, co-founder of okenawa and deputy head of the HFR laboratory.
based on this observation, health and sports professionals joined forces to found the company okenawa. « our idea is to move from a siloed approach to a comprehensive and personalized approach. »
objectives of the health course
the aim of this course is to prevent sedentary lifestyle and the many diseases associated with it, particularly osteoporosis, which affects one in two women and one in three men from the age of 50. These people are at increased risk of fragility fractures.
« our course offers them targeted and adapted exercises to prevent these fractures,” the members of okenawa are pleased to say. while the idea may seem obvious, it is nevertheless the only course of its kind in Switzerland.
« we receive patients from other cantons and some hospitals have contacted us, it's catching on! »
press release, Fribourg october 2023
training day nov.2024