Our Aboriginal Health team are busy planning another year of delivering programs across the state. We caught up with KATHRYN HUET to find out more about Diabetes Yarning training, and why the team would love to visit your health organisation.
Can you tell us about the Diabetes Yarning training you offer health professionals?
Our Diabetes Yarning program is about getting together and having a yarn about diabetes. We talk about what diabetes is and help people come up with their own plan to manage it.
We also train other health professionals to deliver Diabetes Yarning, so they can offer the program in their own communities.
This training is not only for Aboriginal health professionals. It’s for anyone in Western Australia who works with First Nations people and communities.
We cover eight topics, including how diabetes works in the body, how to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and strategies to manage diabetes. Each participant receives a booklet with information to take home, and a session typically takes one to two hours.
What are the benefits to learning how to run a Diabetes Yarning session?
We always say that one of the good things about Diabetes Yarning is that it gets people talking about diabetes in a more relaxed setting.
If someone goes to a GP, for example, they may be told they have diabetes, be given medication and sent on their way. In a fifteen-minute doctor’s appointment, a person may not know what to ask, or they may not feel comfortable speaking up.
But managing diabetes is about much more than medicine and there is a lot people can do to stay well if they have the knowledge. So much diabetes management happens in day-to-day life, such as with food and exercise choices.
We’ve had feedback that people really enjoy the session. They will leave with a better understanding of type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes and how to educate others. We also talk about prevention, food choices and so on, while acknowledging how hard it can be in areas with limited access to fresh food.
With diabetes on the rise across Australia and the health care system under pressure, diabetes is an important topic to understand.
The more health professionals who have a good understanding of diabetes management that they can share with their communities, the better.
What feedback have you received from health professionals who have taken this training?
We’ve had some great feedback. Even experienced health professionals will say there are things they didn’t know about diabetes, so everyone learns something. Some participants have said they’d like more mentoring from us, which we’re happy to give.
Unfortunately, diabetes is not getting any better and it’s not going to be an overnight fix – it’s going to take generations. But we can make a difference.
Where are you hoping to visit this year?
We want to visit more places in the Wheatbelt and the Pilbara. These areas are often very spread out with lots of small towns, like a spider web, and there are so many different health services within them.
What we generally try to do is find the person within the community who knows everyone. Once we find that person, we collaborate with them to find a date, time and location that will work for everyone. We can also invite people from surrounding towns to get more people along and make it worthwhile.
There’s a lot of networking that goes on – we sit down with people and have a conversation about what’s happening with diabetes within a particular community, throw some ideas around and talk about the best way to work with people.
What do you enjoy about training health professionals?
Training other health professionals gives me a sense of purpose, because I know that the information I share will ripple out and help the community. I feel like I’m doing something good, and I’m very passionate about it.
Right now, there’s only two of us covering the whole of WA, but we are expanding and will soon have another Aboriginal Health Practitioner. These things take time, you can’t just snap your fingers and it’s done, but we are looking forward to the year ahead. It’s a big job, but we stay in touch with all the people we meet, and we’d love to hear from health professionals who want to learn more.
How much does this training cost?
Diabetes Yarning training is funded by the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) and is free of charge.
Contact our Aboriginal Health team to find out more about becoming a facilitator leading yarning about diabetes within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
