Allied Health

Diabetes Education

About the KDGP Diabetes Education Service

KDGP employs two Diabetes Educators in the Kimberley region. Credentialled Diabetes Educators are recommended as the appropriately qualified providers of diabetes self management education. Credentialled Diabetes Educators are health professionals who already hold a health professional qualification in nursing, medicine, dietetics or pharmacy and who have also completed post graduate training in diabetes education and care.

Diabetes self management education is about providing people with diabetes with the knowledge, skills and motivation to effectively manage their condition.Diabetes self management education is about helping people with diabetes to:

  • Understand diabetes and make informed lifestyle and treatment choices
  • Make appropriate food choices
  • Incorporate physical activity into daily life
  • Use their mediations effectively
  • Monitor their blood glucose and understand and use the results to improve diabetes control
  • Prevent and treat high and low blood glucose levels and manage diabetes when sick
  • Reduce the risks of diabetes complications
  • Manage diabetes along with the demands of work, family and social life.

Credentialled Diabetes Educators work with their clients to help them understand the risks and benefits of lifestyle choices and treatment options. They work with their clients and other members of your diabetes team to achieve mutually agreed clinical targets, good health and well being.

Referral Criteria

Referrals are accepted from all health professionals with patient consent. Referral criteria include:

  • Impaired Glucose Tolerance
  • Type 1 diabetes
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Gestational Diabetes

A Diabetes Education referral may be required in the following instances:

  • Diagnosis of diabetes
  • Starting medication for diabetes
  • Starting insulin therapy
  • Not achieving desired clinical goals, eg, desired blood glucose levels
  • Having recurrent or severe episodes of hypoglycaemia
  • Changes in lifestyle or life stage changes
  • Pregnancy or contemplating becoming pregnant
  • Contemplating travelling
  • Feeling stressed or ‘burnt out’ by diabetes.

Referrals will be accepted via MMex, KDGP referral form, MR52 or AMS Allied Health Consult Form. Please use the KDGP referral form as a guide to the referral information required.

(link: KDGP referral form)

Service provision occurs at Private General Practices, Aboriginal Health Organisations, Aged Care, Hospital Outpatient Clinics, Remote Community Nursing Posts and various community venues across the Kimberley. (Link: Click here to see service provision in your local area).

Dietetics

About the KDGP Dietetic Service

KDGP currently employs four Dietitians across the Kimberley region. The Dietitians are based in Broome or Kununurra and provide an outreach service to towns and remote communities.

Dietitians are university-qualified professionals committed to providing evidence based clinical nutrition practice. KDGP Dietitians deliver services in accordance with Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) Best Practice Guidelines. For further information, visit http://www.daa.asn.au.

KDGP Dietitians work with all health service providers and numerous community agencies and groups across the region to provide clinical outpatient services, community based nutrition education and staff training. KDGP Dietitians also contribute to capacity building within their profession by supporting Dietetic student placements.

Dietitians are experts in food and nutrition, providing advice on individual health and lifestyle needs, conducting group education sessions and contributing to local and national food policy and advocacy issues.

Dietary choices and habits are influenced by many factors such as availability, cost, socio-economics, culture, advertising, convenience, tradition, religion, season, and personal preference to name a few. Dietitians facilitate patients to improve food choices, keeping all these factors in mind as well as nutrition requirements related to the medical conditions and physical activity level of the individual.

Referral Criteria

Referrals are accepted from all health professionals with patient consent. Referral criteria include, but are not limited to:

  • Diabetes (Type 1, Type 2, Gestational Diabetes)
  • Antenatal care
  • Infant and child feeding
  • Failure to thrive/underweight
  • Renal disease (Chronic Kidney Disease, Dialysis, Transplant)
  • Liver Disease
  • Overweight/Obesity
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Dyslipidaemia
  • Hypertension
  • Inflammatory bowel disease
  • Food allergies
  • Chronic non-healing wounds
  • Digestive Disorders

Referrals will be accepted via MMex, KDGP referral form, MR52 or AMS Allied Health Consult Form. Please use the KDGP referral form as a guide to the referral information required.

(link: KDGP referral form)

Service provision occurs at Private General Practices, Aboriginal Health Organisations, Aged Care, Hospital Outpatient Clinics, Remote Community Nursing Posts and various community venues across the Kimberley. (link: Click here to see service provision in your local area).

Useful websites

Podiatry

Mission Statement

“To provide a comprehensive specialty service to those people within the Kimberley region who are in danger of losing their lower limb due to specific medical conditions”

About the KDGP Podiatry Service

There are currently three podiatrists employed by KDGP to provide podiatric services to all health service providers and numerous community agencies across the region.  The focus of the service is on primary health care, with an emphasis on supporting people with foot complications, usually as a result of chronic disease.  The podiatrists provide clinical podiatry services such as:

  • Individual podiatry consultations
  • Foot wound care – care planning, wound care, client and staff education
  • Specialist footwear and orthotic prescription and issue (via CAEP)
  • Minor nail surgery

In addition to individual sessions, community based group education program for clients – Indigenous Diabetic Foot education, Basic Foot Care workshops- are conducted regularly. As are capacity building activities such as training, in-servicing and mentoring of Aboriginal Health Workers, Allied Health Staff, Medical and Nursing staff.

Podiatrists are involved in the prevention, diagnosis and management of disorders of the foot and ankle.  This may be as a result of injury, or more often the result of complex medical disorders such as diabetes, renal failure or rheumatoid arthritis.

Referral criteria

The demand upon the service means that priority must be given to clients who are at high risk of foot complication. Referrals must be received from a GP or health professional involved in the clients care, with patient consent. These include clients with the following conditions:

  • Diabetes
  • Renal Disease
  • Hansen’s disease
  • Peripheral Vascular Disease
  • Significant Foot deformity
  • Previous or current foot ulceration

The referral must include patient contact details, medical history, medication (if relevant to pedal issues) and description of current foot problem.

Patients will be seen in order of priority, e.g. Foot ulcers, PVD, diabetes.

Referrals will also be accepted via MMex, MR52 or AMS Allied Health Consult Form. Referrals can be faxed to KDGP office on (08) 9192 7999 or when at remote clinics given to staff who manage visiting specialists appointments.

Service provision occurs at Private General Practices, Aboriginal Health Organisations, Aged Care, Hospital Outpatient Clinics, Remote Community Nursing Posts and various community venues across the Kimberley. (link: Click here to see service provision in your local area).