Our Credentialled Diabetes Educators are health professionals who specialise in the provision of high quality diabetes education and care.
Our diabetes educators work with people at risk or living with diabetes and their family members. Our educators work to provide self-management education, play a major role in empowering people to live well with diabetes, and aim to reduce risk of diabetes related complications.
Service Overview
Diabetes self-management education is about providing people with diabetes with the knowledge, skills, confidence, motivation, and emotional support to effectively manage their chronic health condition at home.
Services we provide
Our diabetes educators provide individual consultations for people with diabetes, or those at risk of developing diabetes.
Our educators support and empower people with diabetes to:
- Understand diabetes and make informed lifestyle and management choices
- Monitor their blood glucose levels to understand and improve their diabetes management
- Effectively take medications for diabetes
- Prevent and manage low and / or high blood glucose levels
- Manage diabetes when sick
- Reduce the risk of diabetes related complications
- Manage diabetes along with the demands of work, family, and social life
- Make informed food and drink choices
- Incorporate physical activity into lifestyle
Programs we offer
In addition to individual consultations, we aim to deliver community-based group education programs to reduce risk of diabetes in the community and support those living with diabetes in a group setting.
Diabetes One Stop Shop (DOSS)
We also aim to provide workforce development opportunities such as training and in-servicing for Aboriginal Health Workers, allied health, medical, and nursing staff to upskill and provide additional support for people at risk or living with diabetes.
Who is eligible to access these services?
Our diabetes education service is available to adults with:
- Newly diagnosed or existing Type 1 or 2 diabetes
- Gestational diabetes or diabetes in pregnancy
- Pre-diabetes
You are welcome to bring a family member or friend to support you on your diabetes journey.
Services we don’t provide
We do not provide services for children with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
Children with diabetes are best supported by specialist multidisciplinary paediatric diabetes management teams located within tertiary hospitals.
The PCH Endocrinology and Diabetes Department provide state-wide inpatient and outpatient services for children with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and other endocrine (hormone) disorders.
Service locations
We provide diabetes education services out of our Broome office and the Coolibah Health Centre in Kununurra. We also provide outreach services in partnership with WACHS and KAMS to deliver outreach diabetes education services to over 30 locations across the Kimberley.
Telehealth services are available in some instances.
For information on our service schedule, please visit our Outreach Services.
How to access our services
We require a GP or other health professional referral to access our diabetes education service.
GP referral via MBS allied health
We accept MBS referrals for people with chronic health conditions and complex care needs. This program entitles you to access five (5) free allied health services (including podiatrists, dietitians or diabetes educators).
Your GP must prepare a GP Management Plan or a Team Care Arrangement and complete a Department of Health Issued Referral Form.
Information for health professionals on how to refer to our services is available here.
What to expect after your referral?
Once we have received your referral from your GP or health care provider, you will be contacted by your local health clinic or by Boab Health when an appointment becomes available.
Wait times
Refer to the Allied Health Referral Prioritisation Table for an indication of wait time, based on prioritisation. Priority timeframe may vary depending upon location, waitlist, attendance, and clinical judgement.
Our diabetes educators provide outreach services to over 30 towns and communities across the Kimberley. Therefore, there may be a wait time to access our services.
You will be contacted by your local health clinic or Boab Health as soon as an appointment becomes available in your preferred location.
Cost of services
Our government-funded diabetes education services are currently free-of-charge for eligible clients.