Diabetes Foot Care
It’s hard to enjoy a complete and satisfying life if you’ve had your leg or foot amputated because of diabetic complications … but that’s the story for hundreds of Aboriginal Territorians. Rates of Type 2 diabetes are soaring in the NT yet information and health promotions about its prevention and management are thin on the ground, as too are podiatrists and allied ‘foot care’ professionals.
AMSANT’s one-year ‘diabetes-related foot care’ program seeks to coordinate the myriad services and programs in the NT, and is a joint initiative with the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Danila Dilba Health Service, Katherine West Health Board and NT Health. The program also lobbies governments for standardised screening and responses to diabetic complications, and for more health promotion.
“We’ve grabbed this opportunity and are running with it because too often diabetes and podiatry needs have been overlooked, and there’s only been a limited standardised approach to screening for problems, or supporting and delivering integrated foot care services,” says Ameina Brunker, AMSANT’s program coordinator.
“There are many barriers to delivering podiatry, especially in remote areas ~ high staff turnover, access to patients, lack of coordination ~ but the greatest need is for better health promotions and education, so people can get in early and get treatment when they identify any foot problems relating to their diabetes.”
Key goals of the program are to establish a network of podiatrists in the NT; promote podiatry to PHC services; standardise foot screening processes; support rehabilitation in a culturally appropriate way; improve coordination of services; and incorporate standardised foot care into the Communicare patient record system.