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Home | Programs | T2DM Guideline Series | T2DM: Diabetes and Indigenous Australians

T2DM: Diabetes and Indigenous Australians

Duration: 60 minutes

Program ID: 913d | Purchase Price: $210.00 (Available as part of a DVD set of 4 programs on 4 discs)

This program will be re-broadcast on National Indigenous Television service (NITV) on Tuesday 27 July 2010 at 12.30pm Sydney time - available for viewing via Austar and FoxTel, as well as through the Optus Aurora satellite that carries Rural Health Education Foundation programs.  Please contact the Foundation if you would like additional information.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have the fourth highest rate of type 2 diabetes in the world. It is estimated that between 10 and 30 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have the disease. This rate is around four times higher than that for non-Indigenous Australians. Type 2 diabetes represents a major public health problem for Indigenous Australians with a much earlier age of onset and the risk of developing diabetes related complications resulting in a significant burden of disease in terms of mortality, hospitalisations and a range of financial and human costs.  

The death rate in Indigenous communities is believed to be up to 17 times higher than that of non-Indigenous Australians, mainly due to high levels of cardiovascular disease and kidney disease associated with diabetes. Complications include a higher risk of heart attack or stroke, eye disease, kidney disease and nerve damage, which may result in traumatic injury, infection and possible limb amputation.
 
Chronic diseases such as diabetes and those related to it account for 59% of the difference in mortality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, making it imperative for health services to adopt a comprehensive and culturally appropriate response to risk factors and management in primary health care.
 
This program explores the question of how diabetes can be prevented in Indigenous communities and the issues around diet, obesity, physical activity, poor living conditions and low socioeconomic status. It focuses on a multidisciplinary approach to the detection and diagnosis of diabetes. The program also examines evidence based approaches to the management of diabetes, hypoglycaemic control and diabetes-related complications among Indigenous Australians.
 
The program is part four in a series on type 2 diabetes and the new NHMRC endorsed Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Clinical Guidelines.
 
This program is introduced by the Hon Warren Snowdon, MP, Minister for Indigenous Health, Rural and Regional Health and Regional Services Delivery.

This program was first presented live as a webcast and satellite broadcast on Tuesday 10 November 2009.  To view the program via video webstreaming, click on the webcast/webstreaming button on the right side of this page.

Program Presenters

  • Chair: Dr Norman Swan - Presenter of the Health Report on ABC Radio National
  • Ms Sumaria Corpus - Diabetes Educator, Royal Darwin Hospital, NT
  • Ms Bernadette Heenan - Credentialled Diabetes Educator and Registered Nurse, Far North Queensland Rural Division of General Practice, Cairns QLD
  • Dr Pat Phillips - Senior Director Endocrinology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide, SA
  • Dr Rob Way - General Practitioner, Katungul Aboriginal Medical Service, Narooma NSW
See details of presenters for this program

Learning Outcomes

  • Identify risk factors for type 2 diabetes in Indigenous Australians
  • Develop a culturally appropriate approach to prevention and management of type 2 diabetes
  • Demonstrate awareness of recommended treatments and management strategies
  • Develop an Indigenous specific plan of care for a patient with type 2 diabetes

Broadcast Dates

This program was first broadcast on the Foundation's satellite network on Tuesday 10 November 2009.

Funding Bodies

This program and distribution of the Diabetes Guideline Series has been funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

Accreditation

This program is accredited or endorsed for CPD/CPE by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, the Royal College of Nursing Australia and the Australian Physiotherapy Association. An application for accreditation from ADEA will be made for this program.