Oral Presentation The Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian Diabetes Society and the Australian Diabetes Educators Association 2013

Supporting self-management and optimising mental health in people with type 1 diabetes: an education resource for trainees in adult endocrinology (#69)

Jennifer J Conn 1 , C L Silberberg 2 , Christel Hendrieckx 3 , A J Jenkins 4 5 , Alison Nankervis 1 , N W Cheung 6
  1. Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Vic, Australia
  2. Department of Psychiatry, St Vincent's Hospital, Fitzroy, VIC, Australia
  3. Deakin University, Melbourne, NSW, Australia
  4. The University of Melbourne , Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  5. NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  6. Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW, Australia

Type 1 diabetes is arguably one of the most difficult chronic medical conditions for an individual to self-manage. It requires relentless juggling of insulin doses, dietary intake and exercise to optimise blood glucose levels so the onset of the debilitating acute and chronic complications can be prevented or delayed. Health professionals play a vital role in supporting the self-management and optimising the mental health of people with type 1 diabetes. Until now, there have been no structured education programs available to trainees in adult endocrinology to enhance the development of their consulting skills in this area. This presentation will describe the development and implementation of an education resource designed to address this gap. The content of the resource has been based on a national learning-needs analysis conducted through The University of Melbourne, as well as an extensive literature search on chronic condition self-management support and mental health issues that can impact on the lives of people with type 1 diabetes. The resource has been developed with the input of a range of mental health professionals, communication experts, diabetes health professionals and endocrinology trainees, as well as the Type 1 Diabetes Network, a leading diabetes consumer organisation. This is an Australian Diabetes Society project which has been funded under the National Diabetes Services Scheme.