No sugar coating for November 25 program on diabetes in the bush
November 21, 2008A new Rural Health Education Foundation television program airing on Tuesday 25th September, Sugar in the Bush: Rural and Remote Diabetes, explores the treatment and management of diabetes in rural and remote Australia.
Sugar in the Bush: Rural and Remote Diabetes provides context through four diabetes-related case studies developed by The Menzies School of Health Research which highlight a variety of special circumstances affecting diabetes including pregnancy, older age and co-morbidity.
A focus on the special challenges of diabetes in the bush
“We know that, for a variety of reasons, detection and management of diabetes is much harder in regional and remote areas,” says Rural Health Education Foundation acting CEO Amanda Little. “A lack of local specialists, an absence of comprehensive screening programs, and a scarcity of general health resources all conspire to make treatment and management of diabetes particularly challenging in the bush.”
“The Sugar in the Bush program is specifically designed to help rural health practitioners to identify key management strategies and develop plans of care for patients with diabetes in rural and remote areas,” says Ms Little.
Program funding
The program Sugar in the Bush: Rural and Remote Diabetes is produced with funding from the Australian Government Department of Health & Ageing.
Case studies and an expert panel
Sugar in the Bush: Rural and Remote Diabetes features pre-recorded case studies and a live panel discussion led by Consultant Clinical Pharmacist Dr Geraldine Moses. The panel comprises leading medical practitioners including Aboriginal Health Worker and Diabetes Educator Ms Sumaria Corpus; Dr Hugh Heggie, a Medical Officer from Amoonguna Health Service (NT); Professor Kerin O’Dea AO from the University of Melbourne’s Department of Medicine; and Dr Pat Phillips, Senior Director Endocrinology at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide.
Broadcast details
The hour-long program will be broadcast live across the Rural Health Education Foundation’s satellite television network on Tuesday 25th September at 8pm (AEDT), with repeats at 8.00pm Perth time that same evening (two hours later) and 12.30pm on Friday 28th September.
Available on DVD and the web
DVD copies of this program will be available for purchase after the broadcasts via our website.
The program will also be available free on the Internet for viewing via web-streamed video or listening via an audio podcast.
Diabetes far more prevalent in remote areas
Australians living in rural and remote areas have been shown to have higher rates of risk factors and mortality from diabetes than their metropolitan counterparts. In 2004-05, it was found that death rates due to diabetes were significantly higher in all regional areas.
Furthermore, Indigenous Australians experience higher prevalence rates of diabetes and related risk factors and complications, and develop diabetes at an earlier age than the non-Aboriginal population. The overall prevalence of diabetes among Aboriginal adults is at least two to four times that of the non-Aboriginal population.
More information
For more information on Sugar in the Bush: Rural and Remote Diabetes - including presenter details, access instructions and associated educational resources – refer to the program summary or contact the Foundation.