Internet Edition Issue 2
May 2005

Editorial

Viewpoint

Cyclone Strikes Kalumburu

Managing Diabetes At Warmun

From the Office of Justice, Ecology & Peace

KCP Magazine

MANAGING DIABETES AT WARMUN

Shirley Purdie, trained community carer, raising awareness of diabetes prevention and management. Photo: R Shakespeare

Some of the money given for Project Compassion last year has been used by an organization called Unity of First People of Australia (UFPA) to put in place a Diabetes Management and Care Program at Warmun.

Type II Diabetes can cause blindness, kidney failure and heart disease. Diabetes has been called the silent killer. The first step in the program at Warmun was to encourage all adults in the community to be tested for the disease. The next step was to try and prevent people from getting diabetes by encouraging them to live a healthier lifestyle. At the same time showing people, who already have the disease, ways of managing their illness to enable them to live a normal life.

People are encouraged to cook low fat nutritious meals such as kangaroo tail curry and rice, vegetable soup and damper. The shop at Warmun supports the program by giving people the choice of healthy and nutritious food to purchase.

Shirley Purdie who works at the Art Centre is a strong supporter of the Diabetes Management Program. Shirley says you cannot help other people if you are not living a healthy lifestyle yourself. For sometime now fruit, sugar free drinks and biscuits are taken at the refreshment breaks at the Art Centre instead of less healthy alternatives.

For the last two years the program has been run with the help of UFPA. Another advantage to come out of the program has been that while more and more people at Warmun are making sensible decisions about their own health, people like Shirley are encouraging other people to do the same. The Diabetes Program at Warmun is also a way of building
leadership among community members.

Caritas Australia is proud to support UFPA’s type II Diabetes Program. Your donation to Caritas will support the Type II Diabetes Management and Care Program and help indigenous communities address the problem of indigenous health.

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