Gwen Scott program success
With the support of the Gwen Scott grant, I was able to attend the Australasian Diabetes Advancements and Technologies Summit (ADATS) and the Australasian Diabetes Congress (ADC) in Adelaide.
ADATS boasted an impressive lineup of international and national speakers, talking about the latest advances in technology available in Australia. Presentations related to both patient user technologies (pumps and CGM) and organisational technology which allows for easier workflows for health care facilities.
From Wednesday to Friday I attended the ADC. On Wednesday I presented my abstract as an oral presentation on the telephone clinic that we set up during covid. This clinic provided remote follow-up to patients who needed support to stabilise their diabetes, but did not need to attend a face-to-face appointment. This clinic is still servicing up to 15 patients a day. The presentation was well received by the audience.
On Thursday I presented with a team, including an Endocrinologist, a dietitian and a person living with diabetes about the challenges that hormonal changes create for women living with Type 1 diabetes. This session attracted a large audience with standing room only.
Discussion was robust with an amazing level of interest in the topic.
I was fortunate enough to chair another session, where three dietitians presented on topics related to dietary management of diabetes and weight. Each dietitian presented a different opinion on how weight management could be achieved, but the underlying belief that ‘fat shaming’ doesn’t work was apparent in all the presentations.
On Friday I participated in a session on Diabetes Technologies. I offered the perspective of a Credentialled Diabetes Educator – Registered Nurse on the various systems available and the importance of patient choice in their own management. Again, there was keen interest in the session with lots of questions generated.
My favourite session that I attended as an audience member was presented by Helen Murphy, who discussed her recent paper on the care of women in pregnancy with Type 1 diabetes using the Ypso insulin pump with the CamAPS closed loop app. The session demonstrated some very positive outcomes for these women. Ypso is making a submission to the TGA to have their system approved for use in pregnancy.Catching up with colleagues and networking between sessions is also an invaluable part of the conference.
Without the support of the Gwen Scott Grant, I would have struggled to attend the conference. I value the opportunity to share my experience as a CDE – RN with other diabetes health professionals and to learn from others.
Thank you to Diabetes Victoria for offering me this opportunity.
