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Health Professionals learn new tools to fight Chronic Disease

More than 100 health professionals from across the NT have been learning how to better manage chronic disease at workshops in Darwin over the past week.

The full-day workshops covered different topics including chronic disease care planning, nutrition programs to help prevent chronic illness and effective management of chronic conditions of the foot, which is highly prevalent in the NT.

In addition, practical wound management workshops were also conducted as part of the series, with better wound care known to help improve outcomes for patients with chronic diseases.

NT PHN Health Workforce Education Team Lead, Chelsea Newfield, said the focus of the workshops series was on improving chronic disease education.

“The Northern Territory is home to some of the highest chronic disease rates in Australia,” she said.

“These workshops are an important step towards preventing chronic disease in our communities.

“It’s about upskilling our health professionals, so they have the assessment tools they need to help their patients but also to empower their patients to take their care into their own hands, by providing them with new knowledge and information.”

The workshop series attracted health workers from a range of fields including GPs, remote nurses, pharmacists, and occupational therapists.

Attendees hailed from all corners of the NT, including Elcho Island and Alice Springs.

Karen Shergold, a Registered Nurse in Maningrida, received a scholarship from NT PHN to travel to the workshop series.

“We’re currently flooded in at Maningrida so the fact I was offered a scholarship and able to fly into Darwin to attend the workshop series was a huge benefit and financial relief for me,” she said.

Ms Shergold, who has worked in Maningrida for more than eight years, said she was excited to return to the remote community and share her newfound knowledge with her patients.

“We have a large cohort of chronic disease patients, anything from lung disease to COPD, renal heart disease and diabetes and this course has provided me with a better understanding on how I can now treat my patients and work closer with them to improve their health.”

NT PHN partnered with the Benchmark Group training specialists to deliver the workshops, which were free for NT Primary Health Care workers.

 

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