Australian National Diabetes Strategy (2016–2020) and its impact on nursing practice and healthcare system

This paper analyses the Australian National Diabetes Strategy (2016–2020) and its impact on nursing practice and the Australian healthcare system. It discusses the effectiveness of nursing practice in relation to the objectives of the strategy and compares and contrasts information with literary articles.

Running head: NURSING
Nursing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................2
Goal 1: Effective prevention against the development of type-2 diabetes (T2DM)..............2
Goal 2: Promoting awareness and creating provision for early detection of Type 1 and
Type 2 diabetes mellitus.........................................................................................................3
Goal 3: Reduction in the occurrence of the diabetes-related complications while improving
the quality of life of the diabetes survivors............................................................................3
Goal 4: Reduction of the impact and occurrence of the gestational diabetes during pregnant
................................................................................................................................................4
Goal 5: Reduction in the impact of diabetes occurrence of the Torres Strait Islanders
peoples....................................................................................................................................5
Goal 6: Reducing the impact of diabetes among priority groups...........................................5
Goal 7: Strengthening the prevention and care through research and evidence-based data. .6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Australian National Diabetes Strategy (2016–2020) by the Australian Government
Department of Health [AGDH] (2016) outlines the Australia’s national response for the
diabetes management. It also informs how the existing healthcare resources can be co-
ordinated in order to reduce the incidence of diabetes among the vulnerable population. The
strategy also helps in the identification of the effective yet appropriate intervention strategies
for the diabetes prevention at the community level by overcoming the barriers at the multi-
sector level. The strategy mainly highlights the collaborative approach form the government
and community level NGOS and health care professionals. The following paper aims to
analyse Australian National Diabetes Strategy (2016–2020) and its impact on the nursing
professional practice and the Australian healthcare system. The assignment will investigate
the effectiveness of the nursing practice in relation to the objectives of the Australian
National Diabetes Strategy (2016–2020) and compare and contrast information with the
literary articles.
Discussion
The Australian National Diabetes Strategy (2016–2020) is guided by seven different goals
Goal 1: Effective prevention against the development of type-2 diabetes (T2DM)
The main action plan for the achievement of goals includes the reduction of the
modifiable risk factors behind the development of the diabetes mellitus and identification of
the high-risk individuals or the vulnerable population (AGDH, 2016). According to Corbin et
al. (2016), the main modifiable risk factors behind the development of the diabetes include

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obesity, smoking and drinking, consumption of unhealthy food and lack of physical activity.
Thus change in the nursing practice will include educating the population about the
importance of the healthy lifestyle in decreasing the vulnerability of developing diabetes
mellitus. The nursing practice must be aligned with designing disease awareness program at
the community level in order to increase the healthcare awareness (AlQarni, Yunus &
Househ, 2016). For proper education of the youth, the Government of Australia must come
forward in launching Face-book based sharing of information for diabetes awareness among
the youth (AlQarni, Yunus & Househ, 2016).
Goal 2: Promoting awareness and creating provision for early detection of Type 1 and
Type 2 diabetes mellitus
The early detection of the type 1 diabetes is includes analysis of the keto-acidosis and
high blood glucose level. The early detection of the type 2 diabetes is guided by the
estimation of the hyperglycemia and insulin sensitivity (AGDH, 2016). The change in the
nursing practice for the early detection of the diabetes include the biochemical test of the
fasting blood glucose and haemoglobin A1c for the early detection of both type 1 and type 2
diabetes (Chung et al., 2017). However, people living in the rural areas of Australia at times
fail to avail proper medical assistance in order to conduct immediate blood test for the
detection of diabetes. Thus Australian government must bring in the healthcare system by
increasing the availability of the gluco-meter for the instant detection of the blood glucose
level. It will be the duty of the nursing professionals to educate the population about the use
and the importance of the gluco-meter (Verma & Gupta, 2019).
Goal 3: Reduction in the occurrence of the diabetes-related complications while
improving the quality of life of the diabetes survivors
The main action plans behind the implementation of these goals include development
of the nationally agreed clinical guidelines for the implementation of the protective measures

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at the local or the community level. The action plan also includes increasing the consumer
engagement and self-management principle for the effective management of the diabetes
mellitus. The self-management skills for the diabetes prevention include face-to-face or
telephonic interaction with the people or increasing the access of the insulin and educating
the population of the adult service about the process of injecting the subcutaneous insulin
(AGDH, 2016). The research conducted by Kolltveit et al. (2016) highlighted that use of the
telemedicine interventions helped the nursing professionals to educate and assist the patients
in the management of diabetic foot ulcers along with improving wound management skills
and heightened confidence. The increase in the acceptance of the telephonic conversation or
the causal face-to-face conversation with the nursing professionals for the management of
diabetes is guided by the effective communication skills of the nurses (Rho et al., 2015).
Goal 4: Reduction of the impact and occurrence of the gestational diabetes during
pregnant
The main action plan for the reduction of the rate of occurrence and the severity of the
gestational diabetes mellitus include pre-pregnancy programmes and advice followed by
post-pregnancy programmes for women with gestational diabetes along with follow-up for
the children of mothers with GDM or with obesity (AGDH, 2016). According to Lamminpää,
Vehviläinen-Julkunen and Schwab (2018) it is the duty of the nursing professional to educate
the pregnant women about the harmful effects of gestational diabetes apart from screening.
The education about gestational diabetes will be associated with framing of proper dietary
interventions for the gestational diabetes management. Proper dietary plan for gestational
diabetes management include sugar restricted diet along with the intake of high fibres,
vitamins and minerals. According to the American Diabetes Association (2015), the nursing
professionals must be educated about the importance of the mild to moderate physical
activity among pregnant women in order to prevent development of the gestational diabetes.

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Goal 5: Reduction in the impact of diabetes occurrence of the Torres Strait Islanders
peoples
The reduction in the diabetes among the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders
can be done by framing culturally sensitive healthcare approaches. According to the
Australian Government Department of Health (2016), the indigenous community of Australia
has one of the highest rates of type 2 diabetes. The vulnerable population includes children,
adolescents and young adults. The main reason attributed against this is unhealthy lifestyle
habits, lack of proper access to healthcare support. Thus, the government is planning to
implement culturally competent healthcare practices in order to improve health-awareness
and increase the access of care (AGDH, 2016). Change in the nursing practice in order to
reduce the rate of occurrence of type 2 diabetes among the indigenous population include
recruitment of the aboriginal nursing professionals and this will help to decrease the language
barrier and helping to frame the therapy or awareness program in a culturally competent
manner. The nursing professionals must also come forward in order to given mental
assistance to recover from depression among the aboriginal population (Schierhout et al.,
2016). Schierhout et al. (2016) stated that aboriginals suffer from depression resulting in
increased alcohol and smoking intoxication, which increases the vulnerability of developing
type-2 diabetes.
Goal 6: Reducing the impact of diabetes among priority groups
Reducing the impact of diabetes among the priority groups include making proper
diabetes care plan in a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) manner for CLAD
population. Separate care plan must be undertaken for older adults, adolescents and people
living in the rural areas (AGDH, 2016). Thus the change in the overall nursing practice or
approach in the healthcare will be directed towards the framing of the person-centred
healthcare approach for different group of population based on their emerging needs. For

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example, increased occurrence of diabetes among the older adults in Australia is attributable
to lack of proper assistance of home like diet plan, physical exercise and increased level of
depression due to social isolation. Thus nursing interventions for the effective management of
diabetes among the older adults include residential assistance and care (Sinclair, Dunning &
Rodriguez-Mañas, 2015).
Goal 7: Strengthening the prevention and care through research and evidence-based
data
This area deals with development of proper research agenda and facilitation of the
proper research linkage. This practice deals with bringing change in the Australian
Healthcare System by increasing the funding towards effective research plan directed towards
advanced preventive strategy for diabetes mellitus. The effective research must also be
undertaken in order to promote mental health interventions. The nurses must be trained in
order to ascertain the reason behind the depressive symptoms which is important modifiable
risk factors behind diabetes development among the mass (Holmes-Truscott et al., 2016).
Conclusion
Thus from the above discussion, it can be concluded that change in the nursing
practice for the effective prevention of the diabetes mellitus will include proper identification
of the modifiable risk factors behind the development of the diabetes mellitus and farming the
person-centred care plan based on the needs of the respective population. In the Australia the
majority of the diabetes patients hails from the Aboriginal or the Torres Strait Islander groups
and thus effective prevention of the diabetes mellitus among the Aboriginal group of
population will include recruitment of the aboriginal nurses and framing of the culturally
sensitive care plan. The change in the healthcare practice is also guided by identification of
different population groups of the diabetes survivors like older population, CALD population

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and the adolescents and framing separate care plans for each groups. The nursing
professionals must also include special mental health improvements in order to reduce the
level of depression resulting in alcohol and increased rate of smoking among the adolescents
and aboriginals, which are other modifiable risk factors for diabetes development.

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References
AlQarni, Z. A., Yunus, F., & Househ, M. S. (2016). Health information sharing on Facebook:
an exploratory study on diabetes mellitus. Journal of infection and public health, 9(6),
708-712.
American Diabetes Association. (2015). 12. Management of diabetes in pregnancy. Diabetes
Care, 38(Supplement 1), S77-S79.
Australian Government Department of Health. (2016). Australian National Diabetes Strategy
(2016–2020). Access date: 2nd March 2019. Retrieved from:
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/3AF935DA210DA043
CA257EFB000D0C03/$File/Australian%20National%20Diabetes%20Strategy
%202016-2020.pdf
Chung, J. K. O., Xue, H., Pang, E. W. H., & Tam, D. C. C. (2017). Accuracy of fasting
plasma glucose and hemoglobin A1c testing for the early detection of diabetes: A
pilot study. Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine, 1(2), 76-81.
Corbin, L. J., Richmond, R. C., Wade, K. H., Burgess, S., Bowden, J., Smith, G. D., &
Timpson, N. J. (2016). BMI as a modifiable risk factor for type 2 diabetes: refining
and understanding causal estimates using Mendelian randomization. Diabetes, 65(10),
3002-3007.
Holmes-Truscott, E., Browne, J. L., Pouwer, F., Speight, J., & Cummins, R. A. (2016).
Subjective wellbeing among adults with diabetes: Results from diabetes miles—
Australia. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17(3), 1205-1217.

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Kolltveit, B. C. H., Gjengedal, E., Graue, M., Iversen, M. M., Thorne, S., & Kirkevold, M.
(2016). Telemedicine in diabetes foot care delivery: health care professionals’
experience. BMC health services research, 16(1), 134.
Lamminpää, R., Vehviläinen-Julkunen, K., & Schwab, U. (2018). A systematic review of
dietary interventions for gestational weight gain and gestational diabetes in
overweight and obese pregnant women. European journal of nutrition, 57(5), 1721-
1736.
Rho, M. J., Kim, H. S., Chung, K., & Choi, I. Y. (2015). Factors influencing the acceptance
of telemedicine for diabetes management. Cluster Computing, 18(1), 321-331.
Schierhout, G., Matthews, V., Connors, C., Thompson, S., Kwedza, R., Kennedy, C., &
Bailie, R. (2016). Improvement in delivery of type 2 diabetes services differs by mode
of care: a retrospective longitudinal analysis in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Primary Health Care setting. BMC health services research, 16(1), 560.
Sinclair, A., Dunning, T., & Rodriguez-Mañas, L. (2015). Diabetes in older people: new
insights and remaining challenges. The lancet Diabetes & endocrinology, 3(4), 275-
285.
Verma, M. P., & Gupta, S. (2019). Competency in Informatics for Nursing Professional in
India: Imbibing the Tech-culture among Nursing Professionals. International Journal
of Nursing Education, 11(1).