Website assists rural people to manage diabetes

A new website has been launched in Queensland’s Darling Downs to improve people’s ability to manage their own diabetes.

The Diabetes Hub is a resource website designed to provide education, advice and management strategies for people living with diabetes, people helping someone who lives with diabetes, and health professionals who have patients with diabetes.

Community members can find practical information, which is easy to find and easy to understand, for managing type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes. The Hub also includes advice on lifestyle factors that can have an impact on overall health such as sleep, food, exercise and drinking alcohol.

The content has been created by Dr Sheila Cook, Director of Medicine at Toowoomba Hospital. She  spent over 12 months preparing the clinical care information for the site after realising there was a real need, particularly in rural and remote areas, to provide easy to understand information and advice to patients with diabetes.

“Approximately 1.7 million Australians have diabetes, and for medical professionals, patients and families there can be a wide variation in confidence and skill managing this disease”, said Sheila.

“I have spent significant time in recent years travelling throughout rural areas in the Darling Downs to treat patients and an overwhelming need that has been identified is to have one central location where diabetes patients, their families and carers can go to get advice, tips and answers about managing their diabetes.

“The Diabetes Hub also provides an opportunity for health professionals, including GPs, to have conversations with their patients about  how they can assist their patients manage their diabetes.”

The website is a collaborative project between Queensland Health’s Clinical Excellence Division, Darling Downs Health, Darling Downs and West Moreton Primary Health Network (PHN) and the Toowoomba Hospital Foundation and is the result of Darling Downs Health’s Diabetes Model of Care Project funded by Queensland Health’s Integrated Care Innovation Fund.

Darling Downs Health Chief Executive Dr Peter Gillies said, “Chronic diseases, including diabetes, continue to have a significant impact across all of the services we provide at Darling Downs Health. This new website will provide an opportunity for people to learn more about their condition and hopefully improve their health and wellbeing.”

Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN CEO Merrilyn Strohfeldt said, “Empowering people living in the region to better manage their chronic conditions, in particular diabetes, is a priority for our PHN and the Diabetes Hub is just one of the collaborative projects we are working on to help the community.”

While the Diabetes Hub was developed in the Darling Downs with local residents in mind, information contained in the site is applicable to anyone in Australia with diabetes.