In April 2007, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to a cost shared package of over $200 million to address the significant growth in type 2 diabetes. The Australian Government announced that its major contribution to this measure will focus on people in the 40-49 year old age group with the objective of reducing or delaying their progression to type 2 diabetes.
Under this package, the Commonwealth Government committed the following:
- Development of the Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool (AUSDRISK) to support general practice and other primary health care providers to address patients risk of developing diabete;
- GPs are able to refer patients aged 40-49 years identified high risk of diabetes (score of 12+ as per AUSDRISK) to subsidised accredited Lifestyle Modification Programs (LMPs) which support patients to undertake sustained lifestyle and behaviour change to reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes;
- Funding for the divisions of general practice network and/or accredited LMP providers to support the implementation of the program;
- National Standards outlining the content and delivery of LMPs.
Objectives
Program Details
Key Achievements
Resources
For further information please contact: Jenny Francis, Population Health Program Officer at
jfrancis@ypdgp.org.au.
Type 2 diabetes is a largely preventable chronic disease that is becoming increasingly common in Australia. If undetected or poorly controlled, type 2 diabetes can result in acute and long term complications.
The purpose of the program is to support general practitioners to address the health needs of patients 40 to 49 years of age who are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Factors identified in the
Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool (AUSDRISK), as contributing to a ‘high risk’ score (12 or more) are reviewed to instigate early interventions such as lifestyle modification programs to assist with the prevention of type 2 diabetes. Clinical trials have provided strong evidence that progression to type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with lifestyle modification.
Program Details
Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool
The
Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool (AUSDRISK) has been developed by the International Diabetes Institute (IDI) and is based on the Finnish ‘risk test’ but has been adapted for the Australian clinical setting using AUSDIAB data.
AUSDRISK was developed to provide a basis for both health professionals and health consumers to assess the risk of developing type 2 diabetes over a 5 year period. It consists of a short list of questions that, when completed, provides a guide to a patient’s current level of risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The item scores and risk rating calculations in the tool have been developed using demographic, lifestyle, anthropometric and biomedical data from the 2000 Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle baseline survey and the AusDiab 2005 follow-up study.
The completion of the
AUSDRISK and a high score (12 or more) result will be mandatory for the patients to be referred to subsidised LMP. It may be completed by either the patient or with the assistance of a health professional.
Further information and a copy of the
AUSDRISK can be accessed by
clicking here.
An electronic interactive version of the
AUSDRISK is also available on
www.newleaseoflife.com.au
Lifestyle Modification Programs
Under this program,
Lifestyle Modification Programs (LMP) are group-based behaviour modification interventions that support patients at high risk to undertake sustained lifestyle and behaviour change to prevent or delay the onset of developing type 2 diabetes.
LMPs involved a series of group education and motivation sessions supporting lifestyle change. Nationally accredited
LMPs are required to meet the
standards for lifestyle modification programs for people at risk of type 2 diabetes.
As part of the Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Program, only accredited
LMPs and providers are eligible to receive GP referrals or receive patient subsidy payments.
Further information on which accredited programs are available in Queensland divisions of general practice,
click here.
LMPs provide information and education on:
- the risks of diabetes and their relationship to lifestyle risk factors
- the importance of regular diabetes screening
- nutrition
- physical activity
- behavioural strategies to support the adoption and maintenance of healthy lifestyle changes
- smoking cessation and alcohol reduction advice if required
- community resources to provide support in maintaining lifestyle change
Referral to subsidised Lifestyle Modification Programs.
| Completion of the Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool (AUSDRISK) is mandatory for all patients accessing a subsidised lifestyle modification program through the MBS items below. |
Eligible patients (40-49 years for general population or 15-54 years for Aboriginal Torres Strait Islanders and identified as high risk of diabetes as per AUSDRISK) may be referred to a subsidised accredited
LMP by their GP through one of the following MBS health assessment item numbers:
- Item 701: Brief Health Assessment of less than 30 mins
- Item 703: Standard Health Assessment lasting 30 to less than 45 mins
- Item 705: Long Health Assessment lasting 45 to less than 59 mins
- Item 707: Prolonged Health Assessment 60 or more
- Item 715: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples health assessment
GPs will be required to undertake one of the following health assessments under one of the new time-based items to refer eligible patients to a subsidised accredited
LMP:
- Items 701, 703, 705, 707:
- a 45-year old health assessment
- a type 2 diabetes risk evaluation
- Item 715: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Adult Health Assessment
A summary flowchart for referrals to
LMPs can be found by
clicking here.
A summary of MBS claiming criteria for the above item numbers can be found by
clicking here.
Further and more comprehensive information on these Medicare item numbers is available on the
Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) website.
New Lease of Life Campaign
The national marketing campaign has been developed to compliment the work of division of general practice in the implementation of the Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Program with the aim of increasing uptake of lifestyle modification programs.
The campaign target audience for this campaign are people aged 40-49 who are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes within the next five years, making them suitable for a lifestyle modification program.
The campaign includes TV advertisements, radio community service announcements and print media (posters, brochures, wallet cards) and a microsite (
www.newleaseoflife.com.au) hosted on the AGPN website.
The key messages of the campaign are that lifestyle modification programs can greatly help people who are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes turn their situation around and take control of their own health; the first step is seeing thier GP.
Further information visit
www.newleaseoflife.com.au.