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The diabetes village – Aboriginal health practitioners

The diabetes village – Aboriginal health practitioners

GDM

For National Diabetes Week this year (12-18 July) we’re encouraging you to grow your diabetes village. In this post, SARAH KICKETT, Aboriginal Health Practitioner, talks about her work here at Diabetes WA. 

Having family members with diabetes means I have seen firsthand the impact of a diagnosis. Emotionally it’s hard because when someone has diabetes they want to go out and live life and have fun, but in their head they know they have to take it easy. 

For some people there’s the added impact of being away from Country when travelling to hospital appointments – for example if you’re travelling from up north to down south, it can be quite isolating. 

Financially it can also have a huge impact, even with support. There are the costs of travel, appointments and so on that all add up, as well as more serious costs.  

Since joining Diabetes WA, I have learned a lot more about diabetes. A typical week for me is a mix of being in the office organising events and being out and about. Our Aboriginal health team travels up north and down south to more remote areas where they don’t get as much support. We deliver clinics and build awareness of diabetes at community events, and we develop Aboriginal health resources such as our popular Tucker Plate.  

The courses we deliver include the Diabetes Yarning course and DESY, which is culturally adapted from our DESMOND (Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed) program.  

We go out into the community and meet people with diabetes in groups, get to know them and talk about diet and putting together balanced meals. Everyone’s different in how they take in information, but I prefer hands-on learning with demonstrations and showing people things in a practical way. 

This is a great area to work in. I was fortunate to go through the Aboriginal health practitioner course and it taught me a lot. Now that I’ve graduated, I am working here and sharing information about diabetes with my community. 

Looking forward, I would like to see more people attending our events so we can get across the message about diabetes and what the risks are for not managing it properly.

It’s also about letting people know more about how they can look after themselves and passing that awareness down through to the younger people. 

Would you like our Aboriginal Health Team to visit your community? 

Or find out more about our resources and culturally safe education for Aboriginal communities? Visit our Aboriginal Health page to get in touch with the team.

You can also listen to a recent Deadly Voices podcast where our diabetes educator Kathryn Huet talks about her work around Western Australia.

For National Diabetes Week this year (12-18 July) we’re encouraging you to grow your diabetes village.

You can find all our National Diabetes Week resources here.

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Diabetes WA acknowledge and recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.

We pay respects and acknowledge the important role of Elders past and present, for they hold the memories of the traditions, cultures, and aspirations of Australia’s First Nations peoples, and have taken on the responsibility to protect and promote our culture and leave a legacy for future Elders and leaders. We acknowledge any Sorry Business that may be affecting individuals, families, and communities at this time. As an organisation, we understand the impact that diabetes has on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia and as such we promise to be respectful, take lead from the community and walk together with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, communities, and organisations in our journey to reducing the impact of diabetes for the First Peoples of Australia.