Live Life Well: Initiatives in NSW
Program Information Sheet
Who?
The Prevent Diabetes Live Life Well program (the ‘Program’) is being run in selected Practices in three Divisions of General Practice (Central Sydney General Practice Network, Macarthur and Southern Highlands) in collaboration with Sydney South West Area Health Service, the Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition and Exercise, based at the University of Sydney, and Diabetes Australia – NSW. It is funded by the NSW Department of Health.
What?
The aim of the Program is to help participants lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by helping them make small, manageable lifestyle changes that they can stick to. Studies have shown that it is possible to prevent type 2 diabetes by improving eating habits and increasing physical activity. The Program is evidence-based and is the largest community-based diabetes prevention trial in NSW.
The Program will engage approximately 150 GPs who will identify, screen and recruit up to 1,550 people who do not have diabetes and are eligible for the Program. The Program targets 1,250 mainstream, 100 Arabic and 100 Mandarin participants aged 50 – 65 years, and 100 Aboriginal participants aged 18 years and older.
Eligible participants are referred to a free lifestyle modification program to improve their nutrition, increase physical activity and reduce weight, in order to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. The lifestyle modification program includes an initial individual consultation followed by three 2-hour group sessions, follow up telephone support (3, 6 and 9 months) and GP check-up visits.
The Program motto is to ‘eat better and move more’. The main goals of the Program are to:
Successful achievement of at least four of these goals can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
When?
The Program is running from 1 June 2008 until 30 September 2011.
Who developed the Program and why?
The NSW Department of Health, together with experts in diabetes, nutrition and physical activity, have designed this Program to help participants lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Lowering a person’s risk by eating better and moving more is easy to say, but hard to do on one’s own.
What does the Program involve?
The Program is run by experienced health professionals who teach participants about:
- Their personal risk of type 2 diabetes and how to prevent it;
- The five recommended goals of the Program;
- Healthier eating;
- Physical activity;
- Setting personal goals and tracking progress; and
- Overcoming the barriers to change and staying on track.
The Program is being rigorously evaluated to determine its effectiveness and feasibility for a possible future state-wide roll out.