Ballet, beach balls and growing up … a recipe for obesity

Dance was a delight of my childhood. I went to Theaterama ballet school, in the basement of one of our beautiful old Adelaide buildings. After school one day a week I would catch the bus to ballet, returning Saturday mornings for further classes. I studied classical ballet (Chechetti method for the ballet enthusiasts!) modern dance,

Time to turn back the clock on me developing diabetes!

When you’re a Credentialled Diabetes Educator, a good part of your time is spent helping people live a healthy lifestyle. It has been said a healthy lifestyle is the ‘cornerstone’ of diabetes management’. A healthy diet, being physically active and managing stress to minimise its impact on a person’s health and quality of life is the

What’s in a word?

Health professionals depend on written and spoken words to help people with diabetes to manage their diabetes; they inform, support, comfort, reassure and inspire. However, words can also have a negative impact on people and create a barrier. Are the words you using sending an unintended message to people with diabetes? A while back, I

Primary Diabetes Care – There’s a role for us all!

Responsibility for the management of the rising number of people with type 2 diabetes sits pretty much in the lap of primary health care. Jayne Lehmann explores the role all primary care health professionals have in increasing the number of people with type 2 diabetes achieving their glycaemic targets. The Chronic Disease Management system, put in

Type 2 diabetes BGM Strip Restrictions – CDE Survival Guide (Part 1)

Jayne Lehmann RN CDE Blood glucose monitoring strip restrictions are about to impact on the 789,985 Australians who are not prescribed insulin to manage their type 2 diabetes. Credentialled Diabetes Educator Jayne Lehmann looks at the implications for Credentialled Diabetes Educators (CDEs) and other health professionals in this two-part blog. Look out for the practical

Diabetes Awareness Week 2016 – Same old, same old!

Yet again a negative and frightening national awareness campaign has been launched into the media and social media channels across Australia by Diabetes Australia (DA). This will be my thirty-first Diabetes Awareness Week and unfortunately will yet again increase diabetes distress in many people with diabetes as well as those yet to be diagnosed. There

Twitter – A DE tool for good not evil!

I need to declare from the outset – like many of my colleagues in the BTE (that’s Before Twitter Experience!) period I did not see a place for technological platforms in my diabetes education. Now ATE (After Twitter Experience!) there’s no stopping me! Previous blogs have looked at my introduction to Twitter at the ADS/ADEA

Social Media – Another tool in the Diabetes Educators’ tool kit!

Jayne Lehmann RN CDE Much of my time as a diabetes educator is spent supporting people in their quest for knowledge, skills and empowerment around their diabetes and its care. Until a year or so ago I hadn’t even considered social media as a skill I needed in my toolkit of education and consulting skills. That all changed after attending