I am pleased to present an update for members on the recent activities of the Association.

Transcription

1 President s Report, September 2006 Reality Check Young Adults with Diabetes Inc I am pleased to present an update for members on the recent activities of the Association. This report is presented in confidence to members of the Association, and is not intended for wider or public dissemination. 1. Starter Kit for Adults with Type 1 Diabetes Following the successful completion of this project to develop a printed educational resource for Australian adults newly-diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, with a grant received from the Federal Department of Health & Ageing in , the Starter Kit has successfully attracted in-kind corporate sponsorship (Abbott Diabetes Care) to allow its continued production and distribution in 2006 and To date, the Starter Kit has been distributed as follows: 1,796 Kits distributed 181 Diabetes Centres, etc. Also published online: The types of centres that are using the Starter Kit are as follows: Diabetes Centres / Hospitals Diabetes Australia DNEs at Comm Health Private practice Private hospitals President s Report, September 2006 Page 1 of 6

2 The distribution by state is as follows: ACT, 4 TAS, 9 WA, 12 SA, 18 NT, 4 NSW, 52 QLD, 26 VIC, 72 An article about the Starter Kit s development and availability was published in the journal The Australian Diabetes Educator, entitled A reality check from those in the know, in June 2006 and generated a large number of new orders and interest in the resource. 2. Reality Check website In the year , hits on the website each month ranged between 220,921 in October 2005 and 651,287 in April This is a small rise on the previous year, and the rise appears to be continuing in the new financial year. 800, , , ,000 0 Oct-04 Dec-04 Feb-05 Apr-05 Jun-05 Aug-05 Oct-05 Dec-05 Feb-06 Apr-06 Jun-06 Aug-06 The most popular component of the website remains the discussion forum. President s Report, September 2006 Page 2 of 6

3 The site currently consists of approximately 450 webpages, in addition to the discussion forum. A new section of the website has been added to pull together resources for health professionals, at the following page - this lists how to order the Starter Kit and Pregnancy booklet, a series of Fact Sheets for free downloading, and the abstracts of papers that have been presented at conferences and in academic journals. 3. newsletter newsletters and announcements have been sent to members since the group s conception, however in 2004 the services of an inexpensive, web-based tool were enlisted to bring the communications of Reality Check up to a more professional standard. With this service we are now sending monthly newsletters, as well as additional announcements as appropriate, in HTML format (which allows images, colour and links). Importantly the new system also allows us to a) track clicks in the newsletter to gage the popularity of different articles, and b) have an automated, online subscription function which requires minimal manual management. There are currently 2,342 subscribers to the newsletter. 4. Academic presentations In order to raise awareness of the Association s work, and share the learnings from some unique recent projects, several abstracts have been submitted to academic conferences around Australia and internationally. The Committee has been pleased that as a result of these submissions, several invitations to present at conferences were received. 4.1 Australian Diabetes Educators Association 2006 The following paper was presented to the Australian Diabetes Educators Association s conference in August Gilbert, K., Millard, R. (2006). The benefits of collaboration as demonstrated through the development of a Starter Kit for Adults with Type 1 diabetes (Abstract). Paper presented at the Australian Diabetes Educators Association Conference, Gold Coast, Australia. Two further abstracts were submitted to the ADEA conference regarding, firstly, research to develop an ideal blood glucose record book and secondly, data obtained from an online survey regarding patients who did not access diabetes educators, however these abstracts were not accepted for presentation. The President attended the conference, with financial support from two corporate sponsors, to present this paper. 4.2 Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society 2006 A paper was presented to the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society s 2006 conference (held in conjunction with the ADEA conference in August): Gilbert, K., Scibilia, R., Lagstrom, J., Parry, A. (2006). Evaluating a consumer resource about pregnancy for women with pre-existing diabetes, and investigating further information needs. Paper presented at the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society Conference, Gold Coast, Australia, President s Report, September 2006 Page 3 of 6

4 4.2 World Diabetes Congress 2006 Two abstracts were submitted and accepted for presentation at the World Diabetes Congress which will be held in Capetown, South Africa in December Gilbert, K., Thornley, S., Kilmartin, G., Kilmartin, J. (in press). Non-adherence to the 'traditional model' of medical management in Australian adults with type 1 diabetes mellitus and its impact on complication screening and self-management (Abstract). Paper to be presented at 19 th World Diabetes Congress, Capetown, South Africa. Gilbert, K. (in press). Perceived and actual information needs of adults at diagnosis with type 1 diabetes (Abstract). Paper to be presented at 19 th World Diabetes Congress, Capetown, South Africa. The International Diabetes Federation has awarded the Association s President a Travel Grant to attend the World Diabetes Congress to present these papers covering flights to Capetown, accommodation and registration. These four abstracts are attached to this report as Appendix Pregnancy with Diabetes Resource The Association s booklet, Can I have a healthy baby?, co-published with the Australasian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society (ADIPS) and Diabetes Australia-Victoria (DAV), continues to be distributed widely. To date, 16,000 copies have been distributed throughout Australia and New Zealand. 5.1 Forthcoming NDSS Distribution We are delighted that the Federal Government in August 2006 approved an application by Reality Check, ADIPS and DAV to re-print and send the resource to all women with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes aged who are registered with the National Diabetes Services Scheme; this is estimated to be 25,000 women. It is expected that this will take place towards the end of Results of the recent evaluation, as presented to the ADIPS conference, will be incorporated into the booklet prior to its reprint. 5.2 Adaptation for the UK The booklet is currently being adapted for a UK audience and will be adopted by London s largest hospital Trust Guy s and St Thomas for use with their diabetic patients in the coming months. The diabetes team leading this project are leaders in the field in the UK and it is intended that there be funds sought by them to allow wider distribution in the UK to other hospitals and individuals, as there is currently no other educational resource about pre-existing diabetes and pregnancy produced by any other organisation in the UK. It will be published initially with the following appearance, and contain a prominent acknowledgment of the original three authoring organizations on the inside front cover. Diabetes and pregnancy - information for women with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes President s Report, September 2006 Page 4 of 6

5 6. Volunteer support The Association remains entirely dependent on the support of a small number of volunteers. Melinda Seed, Treasurer and Sydney co-ordinator of the Association continues to provide a tremendous contribution to both the strategic direction and the day-to-day running of the Association. George Valiotis, continues his work as Adelaide co-ordinator and co-moderator of the online community. Over many years now, Colleen Clarke and Lyndal Hynes have provided invaluable ad hoc administrative support to the Association, and continue to do so. Dr Michelle Leadston has provided a considerable contribution through authoring a tremendously popular column Dear Dr Michelle for the website/ newsletter. Magali Chauvet (Adelaide), Andrew Basset-Smith (Sydney), Hollie Gardner (Melbourne) and Erin Lampinen (New York) responded to a call for volunteer web designers and have provided a variety of support in updating a number of pages in recent months. Many other individuals have supported the organisation in a variety of ways, many of which are not seen or acknowledged, and I would like to extend a thanks to the entire Reality Check community. 7. Awards and recognition 7.1 IDF Travel Grant The President of the Association has been awarded a travel grant from the International Diabetes Federation to attend the 2006 World Diabetes Congress in Capetown South Africa, December ADIPS Award The President s presentation at the Australian Diabetes in Pregnancy Society conference in August 2006 was awarded best presentation in the society s educational research category. 8. Future plans The Association s Management Committee remains committed to the Association s objective which was agreed upon when the committee and members met in Melbourne in May 2003, to: Create opportunities for people with Type 1 diabetes to share knowledge and experiences in order to attain an optimum quality of life. 8.1 Change of Name The Committee will propose at the Annual General Meeting that the name of the Association be changed to The Type 1 Diabetes Network. Increasing work with new, professional groups in the broader diabetes and health community and outside of Australia have indicated that a name which more clearly explains and defines the Association s purpose would be greatly beneficial in portraying ourselves as a professional organisation. President s Report, September 2006 Page 5 of 6

6 It is proposed that the website, and especially the online community component, remains named Reality Check indefinitely. Over the coming years, a new website is proposed for The Type 1 Diabetes Network at the address and this would act as an umbrella for Reality Check, the Starter Kit website, resources for health professionals, and other activities which the organisation may pursue in the future. In other areas of the Association s work there would also be a careful and balanced transition from the use of the name Reality Check to the use of The Type 1 Diabetes Network so as to protect brand awareness which has been built over a number of years. A model for this type of structure is the popular youth web-based project ReachOut which is run by an umbrella organisation The Inspire Foundation which also runs a variety of other projects. 8.2 Events The Association is planning to revive a successful and popular model of hosting annual conferences and educational seminars for people with Type 1 diabetes with the first being planned for Sydney in 2007 proposed date Saturday 5 th May. This is in its very early stages of planning. 8.3 Charity status The Association is currently preparing an application for Donor Gift Recipient (DGR) Status to the Australian tax Office, which would allow us to accept tax-deductible donations from individuals as well as being eligible for a broader range of Trusts and Foundations grants where DGR Status is a requirement. Treasurer Melinda Seed is leading this piece of work. I would be more than pleased to take questions and expand upon any of the information provided in this report at the AGM or other times as members wish. September 2006 President s Report, September 2006 Page 6 of 6