Do you know how important foot care is, especially if you have diabetes?
More than 1.5 million Australians are living with diabetes, and while there’s often a large focus on blood sugar, there’s many other ways people can improve their wellbeing while living with diabetes and foot care is one of those.
Diabetes is a chronic condition that occurs when the body can’t produce enough insulin or use it effectively (or both), which results in high levels of blood sugar. Diabetes can affect all systems in the body and increases the risk of health complications such as stroke, blindness, and lower limb amputation.
World Diabetes Day 2024 focuses on raising awareness about the physical and mental challenges of diabetes and putting wellbeing at the heart of diabetes care. According to the International Diabetes Federation, 63% of people with diabetes say the fear of developing diabetes-related complications affects their wellbeing.
A common complication people with diabetes face are problems with their feet, as it can cause nerve damage and decreased blood flow which then results in foot ulcers and even amputation.
Data published by Diabetes Australia revealed there are around 10,000 hospital admissions each year in Australia for diabetes-related foot ulcers, and more than 4,400 amputations. The burden is even more profound in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who are 38 times more likely to undergo a major leg amputation.
That is why Sunshine Coast Health has recently introduced the Footprints – Walking on Country program.
Footprints - Walking on Country is a mobile outreach program focused on improving diabetes and diabetic foot care.
While it primarily addresses the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities on the Sunshine Coast, the program is designed to be accessible to the entire community.
The mobile Footprints bus, equipped with a podiatry chair and a footcare nurse, has been visiting local shopping areas and community halls, offering foot screening and diabetes risk assessments.
A simple foot screening can detect potential issues in blood flow, undiagnosed diabetes, and ensure a timely referral to a community or high-risk foot podiatrist for those with diabetes.
Footprints event for World Diabetes Day 2024
In honour of World Diabetes Day, the Footprints mobile foot bus will be stationed at Nelson Reserve in Gympie on Thursday November 14 offering free foot screenings and diabetes risk assessments to the local community.
Date: Thursday, November 14, 2024
Location: Nelson Reserve, Gympie
Join us to gain valuable insights into diabetes prevention and management – no bookings required!