FAQs

There are OzDAFNE centres in most Australian states. DAFNE is also run in New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Kuwait. Please click here to find the details for the centre nearest to you.

The cost of the program varies from location to location. This is because each OzDAFNE centre has a different funding structure and different local costs, like room hire fees. Please contact your nearest OzDAFNE centre directly to find out how much their program will cost. 

Some people are already adjusting their own insulin doses. However, they may be basing their decisions on their glucose levels alone rather than also considering what they eat. OzDAFNE teaches carbohydrate counting skills that take the guesswork out of insulin dose adjustment. This lets you quickly build up the confidence to make changes to your doses as needed.

Confidence in adjusting your insulin is not the only benefit of going to an OzDAFNE program. There are many other topics covered during the five days including:

• • How to manage hypoglycaemia.
  • How to manage illness.
  • How to adjust insulin for physical activity.
  • Preventing complications.
  • Eating out
  • Alcohol

People who have done OzDAFNE also say that one of the best things they got out of the program was the chance to meet others with type 1 diabetes and share their experiences.

We understand that sometimes it is hard to take five full days off work, study or other commitments. Managing diabetes already takes many hours out of people’s working lives. The OzDAFNE program may help to reduce this amount of lost work time. For example, OzDAFNE has been shown to improve blood glucose control, which lowers the risk of long-term complications. It can also decrease the risk of severe hypos. In turn, this means that you should not have to take as much time off work.

Some employers let people have paid leave to go to the program, while other people take annual leave. We can give you a letter for your employer to help you get the time off. This letter explains the OzDAFNE program and the benefits that it may have for your diabetes management.

It is important that you can manage your health in a way that you are comfortable with. Some people who have done the program have decided not to keep using the OzDAFNE approach. However, these people still found the program very useful, and they still use some of the principles they learned to help them manage their diabetes.

The OzDAFNE program has been tested as a five-day group education course program. This is the format that has been most successful in trials in Europe and Australia. Other ways of delivering the course could be successful for some people, but this hasn’t been proven yet.

The long duration of the program means you can receive comprehensive diabetes information, and you can practice what you learn in your everyday life. You can also talk about your progress with ongoing support from experienced OzDAFNE health professionals. The group format of the program means that you can meet others with type 1 diabetes and can share and learn from each other’s experiences during the program. Many OzDAFNE graduates say that the group sharing was the part of OzDAFNE that they learned the most from and enjoyed the most!

Better glucose control is only one of the benefits of OzDAFNE. Research about the program shows us that OzDAFNE can improve your quality of life. It can also reduce the risk of severe hypoglycaemia by helping you get your hypo symptoms back if you have lost them. OzDAFNE can give you new ideas to help manage illness, exercise, and hypoglycaemia too.

We know that 1 or 2 mild hypos a week are not unusual and this is a normal part of living with diabetes. However, research into the Australian DAFNE program (OzDAFNE) has shown that severe hypos happen less often after a person has done an OzDAFNE program. The program may also bring back your hypo awareness symptoms. This lowers your risk of having a severe hypoglycaemic episode (where you need someone to help you treat the hypo).

No. The OzDAFNE program is delivered over several days with support from experienced Credentialled Diabetes Nurse Educators and Accredited Practising Dietitians. Your endocrinologist or doctor must agree for you to participate, and we keep them informed of any changes that you make during the program. 

The OzDAFNE program teaches you how to make changes to your insulin one step at a time, based on the patterns of your blood glucose results. During the OzDAFNE “in person” program, you will practice adjusting your insulin doses at lunch time with the group and with guidance from the OzDAFNE health professionals. In all formats of the program youwill also talk about your experiences at all your meal times. This means that you will have many opportunities to practise adjusting your insulin doses, as well as hearing about the experiences of other members of your group. 

The OzDAFNE program was designed for people with type 1 diabetes. There are major differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes – lifestyle changes are much more important in type 2 diabetes. It is true that people with type 2 diabetes who use insulin may benefit from the OzDAFNE principles for insulin adjustment. If you have type 2 diabetes, we suggest that you speak to your diabetes care team about education programs that would suit your personal needs. 

OzDAFNE was designed as a program for adults with type 1 diabetes, using adult learning and education principles, and covering adult topics. In this format, it is not suitable for children or teenagers under 18 years old.