A multidisciplinary, co-designed education program is helping equip allied health professionals with the skills to support Australians living with diabetes – a complex condition that requires ongoing education, self-management support and interaction with healthcare professionals.
The study, by researchers at The University of Western Australia's School of Health and Clinical Sciences, was published in BMC Medical Education and demonstrated a promising new approach to strengthening Australia's diabetes care workforce.
Lead author Dr Alex Park, from UWA's Centre for Optimisation of Medicines, said expanding diabetes capability beyond traditional models of care could help build a more connected and accessible workforce.
"Diabetes care is not delivered by one profession alone," Dr Park said. "By bringing different health professionals, educators and people living with diabetes into the design of education, we can develop training that is more relevant to the way care is delivered."
The program, Australia's first allied health-specific diabetes education qualification, was developed through collaboration between researchers, practising allied health professionals, credentialled diabetes educators and people living with diabetes, including First Nations representation.
The program reflected how diabetes care is delivered in the real world: collaboratively, across multiple health professions and increasingly through digital and community-based services.
The program attracted 738 expressions of interest from healthcare professionals across Australia, with around one-quarter based outside capital cities, and pharmacists accounted for more than half of the expressions of interest.
Of the 142 professionals who enrolled in the first intake, 130 completed the program — a 92 per cent completion rate – and participants remained highly engaged with online learning materials, videos and virtual placement resources.
Researchers identified finding suitable local clinical placements a challenge for professional training in regional and remote areas, so the program introduced a centrally coordinated telehealth student clinic.
Co-author Dr Joseph Carpini, from UWA's Business School, said sometimes innovation meant rethinking who was equipped to provide care, how professionals were trained, and how expertise could reach communities that might otherwise miss out.
"This is ultimately about building capacity across the health system," Dr Carpini said. "If we can give more healthcare professionals the knowledge and confidence to support people with diabetes, we have the potential to strengthen care closer to where people live and work."
Further research will examine how the program influenced participants' professional practice and, ultimately, outcomes for people living with diabetes.
The research provides a potential model for other areas of healthcare where growing demand, workforce shortages and geographic inequities require new approaches to education and service delivery.
