Aboriginal Health Workshops
Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (PT2DM)
On the 13 April 2007 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) announced a Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Program as a part of the COAG National Reform Agenda, under the action area of human capital.
COAG agreed to a cost-shared package of over $200 million to address the significant growth in type 2 diabetes in the Australian population. The Australian Government announced that its major contribution to this measure will focus on people in the 40-49 year old age group with the objective of reducing or delaying their progression to type 2 diabetes.
In addition to the national diabetes prevention program, the states have also implemented strategies to address diabetes.
Commonwealth Government commitment: $103.4M to the PT2DM program includes the following strategies
- Development of an Australian type 2 diabetes risk assessment tool -AUSDRISK
- Patients at ‘high risk’ of developing diabetes (as per the AUSDRISK tool) can be referred by their GP to a local accredited Lifestyle Management Program (LMP). See National LMP Facilitator Service Directory for a directory of LMP providers across Australia.
- New Medicare item number to assess risk in 40-49 year olds. The health assessment for people 40-49 years of age at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes (formerly item 713) is now undertaken by a medical professional via four time based MBS health assessment item numbers 701, 703, 705, 707.
In May 2010, AGPN awarded successful divisions of general practice with LMP seed grants. The aim of the seed grants is to increase the number of referrals to an LMP for people between 40-49 years. A national media and marketing campaign, "New Lease of Life" is complimenting the seed grants www.newleaseoflife.com.au
In addition, the Victorian Government has committed over $20 million to diabetes prevention over 4 years, the Life! Taking Action on diabetes program.
Life! includes
- Risk assessment utilising the AUSDRISK tool
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- Delivery of an accredited evidenced based program – the Life! program
- Social marketing
- Health professional engagement.
LMPs - RESET Your Life & Life!
The two accredited LMPs in Victoria include RESET Your Life and Life! Taking Action on Diabetes.
Eligibility for the program is determined upon someone's risk of developing type 2 diabetes through the AUSDRISK tool.
Take the test: assess your risk of developing type 2 diabetes withing the next five years with the Interactive AUSDRISK Tool.
RESET Your Life is an accredited LMP and is subsidised by the Commonwealth Government for adults 40-49 or Aboriginal people 15-54 who are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and have diabetes excluded. For a promotional brochure on RESET Your Life click here
Life! taking action on diabetes is an accredited LMP and is subsidised by the Victorian Governement for adults 50+ and Aboriginal Victorians 18+ who are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and have diabetes excluded.
The Life! program will also accept people with a high risk condition - Gestational Diabetes Mellitus or Ischemic Heart disease regardless of age or AUSDRISK SCORE. Click here for more information on Life!
A combined referral form for referral to either LMP is available. The form collects the required information to refer a patient to either Program. It is suggested that this single form is used by general practice to reduce confusion over which referral form to use and when.
This version of the combined template also includes a 'WorkHealth' tickbox for GPs to indicate patients that have completed a WorkHealth worker health check: Combined LMP Referral Template
GPV and Victorian Division role In PT2DM
GPV and Victorian Divisions of General Practice have been funded to support the implementation of both the Commonwealth and Victorian state government initiatives.
Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Program GPV progress report – February 2009 This report has been collated from the first progress reports to GPV from Victorian divisions of general practice describing their PT2DM program experience.
Preventative Health Taskforce
View GPV's summary of the Taskforce's report or view further information on our website about health reform.
For further information contact:
Melissa Cook, Project Officer - Diabetes Prevention, Ph: 03 9341 5247 | Mobile: 0439 385 959 | Email m.cook@gpv.org.au