Young people with diabetes get a helping hand
Helping young people with diabetes to self-manage their health and improve diabetes control is the objective of a new support service in the Hunter and New England being headed by Professor Lin Perry from the University of Technology, Sydney.
In partnership with the University of Newcastle, Hunter New England Local Health Network and the Australian Diabetes Council, the Youth OutReach for Diabetes (YOuR-Diabetes) project has received $735,989 in funding over four years from the National Health and Medical Research Council.
The project will address a gap in current diabetes programs by providing support to young people as they make the transition to adult health services, ensuring that they are engaged with their health care and feel confident in managing their conditions.
"Currently, as young people move from children's to adult services, their contact with health care teams falls," said Professor Perry, who is Professor of Nursing Research and Practice Development in the UTS Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health.
"Under the current model, young people are expected to take more control of their diabetes but they receive less support."
The YOuR-Diabetes project will be a collaborative effort between researchers and clinical staff from the three partner organisations.
"This research is about working with clinical staff to reconfigure services with the aims of engaging young people so they are more satisfied with their routine services, and increase their use of them in line with best practice," Professor Perry said.
"We want to improve the contact of young people with diabetes routine and preventative services, and their self management and skills. This should assist young people in managing their diabetes more effectively, and reduce their use of acute services for crisis management."