RISE - The Diabetes Service has a new home

Hunter New England Health’s Newcastle Diabetes Service not only has a new name, it has a new home within the award-winning Newcastle Community Health building in Hunter Street.

Formerly known as the Hunter Area Diabetes Service (HADS), the Newcastle Diabetes Service now forms part of a broader area-wide service, providing individual patient education and consultation with trained nurses, dietitians and medical staff, as well as group education.

The groups range from education about ‘pre-diabetes’, where a person has variable blood glucose which needs to be managed closely so diabetes doesn’t eventuate, through to groups for people diagnosed with Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes, and a group for older teenagers transitioning from paediatric diabetes services to the more independent adult services.

One person who has benefitted greatly from the Type 1 Diabetes course, called the ‘Empowerment Course’, is Neville Lambert who was diagnosed with insulin dependent Type 1 Diabetes over 33 years ago.

He describes Empowerment Course as the single best thing that has ever happened to him since being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

Mr Lambert is insulin dependent, which mean his body doesn’t produce insulin. Insulin is needed to transfer the energy (blood glucose) from his food into every cell of his body. Without adequate insulin, the body gets very tired and shuts down.

He said when he was first diagnosed, he was told to cut out many foods which created spikes in blood glucose, such as sweets. But these days, because of the research into diabetes and how food are digested, people can learn so much more about managing their own diabetes.

Mr Lambert said he analyses the results of the four to six blood glucose tests he does on himself each day.

"Because of what I have learned from the Empowerment Course, I know much more about how to balance my insulin intake with the food I choose to eat and the exercise I get," he said.

Mr Lambert, a Lions member for nearly as long as he has been diagnosed with diabetes, said he is very pleased to hear that the Lions N3 Diabetes Foundation is this week making an extremely generous donation to the Diabetes Service to assist them with their group education work.

The Lions N3 Diabetes Foundation was established to support diabetes education and research in the Greater Newcastle area, and was happy to support the continued work of the Diabetes Service.

The printed resources include a recipe book offered to diabetes clients who attend for education programs, as well as booklets to accompany the four group education programs the service offers.

The booklets complement the diabetes education programs and the recipe books provide a range of information about ‘diabetes friendly’ foods and hints on how to modify other recipes.

To attend one of the programs or be seen by the credentialed diabetes educators, dietitians and medical staff, a written medical referral is needed. This should be mailed or faxed to the administration staff at the Newcastle Community Health Centre on:

Post Box 8, 670 Hunter Street, Newcastle, or fax to 4016 4653 with a request for a patient booking, or call 1300 855952 or (02) 4016 4666.