The Challenge
In the Hunter New England region, one in eight people have type 2 diabetes.
Yet only 5.4% are diagnosed and registered with the National Diabetes Services Scheme. This leaves around 100,000 people with undiagnosed and untreated diabetes, allowing their disease to progress.
Diabetes disproportionately impacts those living in low socio-economic communities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who are three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
Early diagnosis, lifestyle changes, and medical management are critical to prevent disease progression and other complications such as heart disease, blindness and mental ill health.
But it’s difficult to access the best available diabetes care.
Many diabetes patients require a broad multi-disciplinary treatment team which is difficult to access. This access is made even more difficult for people living in regional and rural Australia.
The Solution
The Diabetes Alliance Program Plus (DAP+) is improving health outcomes and the experience of care for patients with diabetes across regional and rural NSW.
DAP+ builds on the original Diabetes Alliance Program (DAP) pilot trial from 2015, which transitioned to business as usual care in 2017.
DAP+ enhances diabetes care by:
- Hosting patient clinics where endocrinologists, dieticians, and diabetes educators collaborate with local healthcare providers to provide patients with holistic, best-practice diabetes treatment.
- Focusing on diabetes patient care in regional and rural areas of NSW and bringing specialist care to the patient in locations close to and trusted by the patient.
- Providing tailored care, resources and support for people with diabetes informed by a specialist care team.
- Upskilling local GPs and practice nurses with the latest tools, knowledge and research.
The end goal of DAP+ is for all people with diabetes in our region to have access to gold-standard care that leads to improved clinical outcomes.
The Impact
“Not only did patients who participated in our model experience improved outcomes, but there was also a significant ‘spill over’ effect. The knowledge gained during the diabetes alliance intervention positively impacted the broader patient population.”
– Professor Sham Acharya, DAP+ Clinical Lead | University of Newcastle researcher in HMRI’s Food and Nutrition Research Program
“Working in a regional area and also in an Aboriginal Medical Centre, we really see the problems that patients have with access to good quality medical care and DAP+ really helps to overcome some of those obstacles for our patients.”
– Dr Mick Ireson, Regional Lead GP at Awabakal Medical Service
Looking Ahead
Over the coming years. DAP+ plans to expand beyond the Hunter New England region to support more diabetes patients across regional, rural and remote NSW. A medibus service will bring mobile diabetes care to even more remote patients.
DAP+ will also incorporate smartphone apps, advice lines, and telehealth to support both patients and clinicians.
New research will continue to be embedded into the program including a health economics analysis to to understand how the program is benefiting the wider health system.
A key goal of DAP+ is to develop a model of care for diabetes that is scalable and can be applied to other chronic health conditions.
As DAP+ continues to drive impact, HMRI will explore how the model can be adapted to drive further healthcare improvements and foster healthier regional, rural, and remote communities across Australia.
