Diabetes Care Plus – Disability Support Worker Training Program
For two years, The Diabetes Victoria Clinic has been a vital resource for people living with, or at risk of, diabetes in Victoria.
Now, as we launch Diabetes Care Plus, we are fulfilling our commitment with a broader vision.
That vision includes developing a diabetes training program for disability support workers. Over the past year we have received one-off requests for diabetes training for employees in the disability workforce, and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) have reported, people living with diabetes are found to be twice as likely to have a disability and three times as likely to experience severe or profound limitations compared to those without diabetes.
There is strong sector demand and a lack of coordinated training.
How we are going to help
As the peak body for diabetes in Victoria, we are uniquely positioned to meet this need and are confident that we have the skilled staff to design and deliver this specialised diabetes training.
We aim to develop comprehensive, tiered disability support worker diabetes training modules, based on recommendations by the NDIS.
This will include scalable, blended learning, which meets urgent workforce needs while aligning with chronic disease management priorities.
The training will require a competency framework for support workers to accurately:
- Insert Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGM)
- Take blood glucose levels with a Blood Glucose Meter (BGM)
- Administer insulin
We will then develop Clinical Governance guidance (including templates) on how diabetes support organisations can imbed these skilled support activities for disability support workers into their existing role.
We are proud of our progress, and we look forward to continuing to support, innovate with, and serve you.
If you or someone you know would benefit from professional development, find out more about Diabetes Care Plus Professional Development
Britt Denton
Communications and Media Lead
Brittany Denton is the Communications and Media Lead at Diabetes Victoria. She oversees media relations and communications, contributing to the organisation’s mission of supporting people with diabetes across the state.
