By Nick Kinnear, 14.11.2022
Understand what the Australian Health system is doing for diabetes
Medicare is the publicly funded health care system in Australia. Each year medicare funds up to 5 sessions per year to help with accessing allied health professionals. This is an attempt to reduce the burden chronic diseases have on our health system. What a lot of people with Type 2 Diabetes don’t know is that there are a further 8 group sessions allocated per year to access education and group exercise classes. To find out more information about this, get in touch with your GP or allied health professional.
Know who the trusted information sources are:
There is so much misinformation around regarding health and well-being, it makes it hard to know right from wrong. Check out these websites below for trusted information relating to diabetes.
Diabetes Australia
One of the oldest diabetes associations in the world, assists with helping Australian Diabetics with education and resources relating to the disease.
Site: https://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/
National Diabetes Support Scheme -1800 637 700
Aims to provide understanding and assistance with accessing services for those with diabetes.
ESSA/Exercise Right
The top of the hierarchy for guidelines relating to exercising with diabetes.
Diabetes SA
A South Australian Diabetes association aiming to increase education and communicate the latest research.
Identify modifiable risk factors
Modifiable risk factors are things that are mostly in our control, common examples include our weight, exercise habits, sleep habits, stress, alcohol and smoking status. A long term view is optimal, with a focus on small changes over an extended period. Create a plan with your trusted professionals and identify ways of tracking your accountability. .
Things that you can do to improve your management:
- Get to sleep around the same time and wake up at a similar time.
- Aim for 7 – 9 hours of sleep
- Limit alcohol and smoking
- Improve fitness and strength
- Consistently meet exercise guidelines
Get your body moving
Exercise is one of the best things you can do to assist with managing your diabetes, independent of the type. The current recommendations are as follows:
Aerobic Exercise: 210 minutes of moderate, or 125 minutes of vigorous.
Resistance training: 2 or more days per week
No more than 2 days break in between exercise sessions for T2DM
For more information please click the link below:
Put a team in place to support yourself
When it comes to managing diabetes, it is a good idea to develop a team of people to help you out. It is important to include both professionals and non-professionals as both are necessary for different reasons.. Professionals are important as they have the knowledge and expertise to assist with diabetes management. Non-professionals also have a role to play, and this is often partners, close friends or family. While these people may not be experts in diabetes they can play a pivotal role in support. This might be just having the knowledge of your condition/s or helping with attending appointments etc.
Professional
- Diabetes Educators
- GP
- Podiatrists
- Exercise Physiologists
- Dieticians
Non-professional
- Partner/Spouse
- Friends
- Family
If you are interested in learning about the many benefits of exercise for managing diabetes, please get in touch with us here at Comet Healthcare. Our Physiotherapists and Exercise Physiologist are more than happy to help with your journey.
Phone: 7610 8242
Email: reception@comethealthcare.com.au
Written by Nick – Exercise Physiologist at Comet Healthcare
Image from Diabetes NSW & ACT