fbpx

New online training to support people living with diabetes

Wednesday 6 March 2019

 

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

 

A new online course to support pharmacists in caring for people living with diabetes has been launched today by the peak national body for all pharmacists, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) and Diabetes Qualified (DQ), the training arm of Diabetes NSW & ACT.

 

The Diabetes in Practice for Pharmacists course aims to help improve pharmacists’ health literacy to better support people living with diabetes to make informed choices about their health and thus improve health outcomes.

 

Diabetes in Practice for Pharmacists also supports several of the national priority actions in the recently released National Diabetes Implementation Strategy, contributing to the strategy’s goal of prioritising Australia’s response to diabetes and its complications and comorbidities, and reducing the impact of diabetes in the community.

 

PSA National President Dr Chris Freeman said the course focused on applying diabetes knowledge in everyday practice and supporting patients through better engagement, asking more meaningful questions and giving advice or referring on as needed.

 

“This new training program supports some of the key actions in PSA’s Pharmacists in 2023 by helping pharmacists in all practice settings have more supportive and meaningful conversations with their patients to prevent medicine misadventure and create better health outcomes,” Dr Freeman said.

 

“Diabetes is explained in simple terms using case studies and real life scenarios to provide examples of appropriate language to answer questions from a person living with diabetes about diabetes management and related products.”

 

Sturt Eastwood, CEO of Diabetes NSW & ACT said, “For many people living with diabetes their pharmacist is the health professional they see the most, so there is ample opportunity to have a conversation about diabetes care. We know that education leads to more effective self-care, which leads to reduced complications and better health outcomes.”

 

The course includes interactive modules and is relevant for pharmacists, intern pharmacists and pharmacy students with a special interest in diabetes. The introductory module is free for PSA members and the course provides pharmacists with the flexibility to work at their own pace.

 

To access individual modules or the full course, please visit the PSA website or DQ website.

 

The PSA and Australian Diabetes Educators Association (ADEA) co-developed Pharmacist Diabetes Educator career pathway also supports pharmacists providing services to people living with diabetes.

 

Media contacts:
PSA: Jarryd Luke, 0487 922 176
DQ: Danilia Walker, 02 9552 9904