Diabetes educator TARA SAVAGE talks us through a day supporting people in regional WA.

Every day starts with me looking at my calendar to see who’s booked in and who’s confirmed their appointments. All our appointments are scheduled, rather than spontaneous. Sometimes it will be a new patient, sometimes someone I’ve spoken to before, but it could be someone from anywhere in country WA.

WA is a big state, and not every country town is going to have a diabetes educator. Our Telehealth service was born on the premise that, where people can’t access a diabetes educator in their town, we will come to them. The service is funded by the West Australian Country Health Service and the West Australian Primary Health Alliance. People can either be referred to us by a health professional, like their GP, or they can refer themselves. It’s a completely free service. We can telephone them, we can speak to them via video calls, or we can do a video call with them at their local hospital or health service.

I love the moments when you feel you’ve helped someone understand something or to feel less anxious and alone.

We’re here to help with anything diabetes-related. We see people living with type 1 diabetes who haven’t been able to connect with a service for a long time. We see women with gestational diabetes and people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. If someone’s been recently diagnosed, we help them learn about diabetes, how it’s affecting their body, and how they’re going to manage it. If it’s someone who has lived with diabetes for many years, they might just need a refresher or help to get themselves back on track.

There is a lot of emotion involved. People can be really upset when they’re first diagnosed because it is a lot to get your head around—where do you start? And people who have been living with it for some time are often upset or frustrated by the time they get in touch with us. The first thing I do is just listen and hear their frustrations. Sometimes that first five minutes is just letting them get it out. Once they’ve verbalized their emotions, then you turn it around into a bit of a positive and put the power back to them—what are they going to do now? It’s always patient-centered. What do they want to know that day? What’s important to them? Often, I start by running through what’s going on inside their body when they’ve got diabetes. Once you’ve gone through that story with them, the reasons why we ask them to do certain things fall into place.

Hopefully, people leave feeling heard, feeling they know more about diabetes, and feeling empowered to manage their diabetes. I also hope they leave feeling like they have a support network around them, even if they are living in a very small regional town. They can always ring us, email us, or contact us, and we’ll make sure they feel supported.

The first meeting is usually the beginning of a long relationship. After we have an initial appointment, we send out an email with a heap of resources and links to NDSS support programs, either online or face-to-face. A lot of people are very happy for us to keep checking in with them, just to see how they’re going. It’s nice to have that relationship continue. The nice thing about our Telehealth service is we can offer people the level of support they need. If they’re in a really bad way and need to be supported weekly, we can do that. If they’re confident, we can meet monthly, six-monthly, or yearly. We’re very lucky to be able to offer that kind of support, and it’s nice when you feel you have a comfortable relationship with the person you’re helping.

I love the moments when you feel you’ve helped someone understand something or to feel less anxious and alone. Recently, we helped a woman who had been put on insulin after having high blood glucose levels for some time. She was very nervous about making that change to her medication, but we were able to support her and guide her to a place where she’s really happy—and her blood glucose levels are textbook perfect! That was a standout for me.

Telehealth for Country WA

Our free Telehealth service provides personalized diabetes education and clinical support to people living in regional WA. This service is available to anyone with diabetes, including those with gestational diabetes, allowing you to speak with a credentialed diabetes educator from the comfort of your home, GP practice, or local hospital.

Appointments can be done over the phone or via video call and are just like in-person consultations. You can discuss your diabetes management, raise concerns, and get advice. You’re welcome to have a support person or healthcare professional join the call.

Funded by WA Country Health Service and WA Primary Health Alliance, these appointments are free and won’t count toward your five Medicare-subsidized allied health visits. Endocrinologist consultations are also available via Telehealth, with no out-of-pocket costs for eligible patients.

For more information, visit www.diabeteswa.com.au/telehealth-for-country-wa/ or call (08) 9436 6241 to book an appointment.