Kirrily Chambers Pharmacist (B Pharm) CDE Adv Diploma Nut Pharm, Grad. Dip. App. Pharm. Prac.)
Kirrily was the first pharmacist Credentialled Diabetes Educator in Australia. That was more than ten years ago and Kirrily continues to lead the evolution of primary diabetes care by community pharmacists. Setting-up a successful service in community pharmacy in South Australia, Kirrily provides increased access to person centred diabetes care in the pharmacy setting and has a special interest in the use of technology to simplify and improve diabetes self-management for people with all types of diabetes. Her pharmacy services also provide access to a range of diabetes products and medication services for a “one stop” model of diabetes education.
Kirrily’s innovative and ground breaking approach to diabetes care and education inspires increasing numbers of pharmacists to pursue their own credentialling as a CDE. She has opened the way and inspired a further 220 pharmacists to become CDEs across Australia and an even larger numbers of pharmacists to complete the graduate courses in diabetes care and education through universities across Australia.
Kirrily promotes the importance of health professionals minding their language when talking about diabetes and those living with it. She believes the words used by health professionals when talking to people with diabetes can demotivate them from attending to their selfc-are and increases the burden they can feel from a condition that needs constant attention and decision making.
Kirrily was the 2019 UTS Innovative Pharmacist of the Year, 2016 CDE of the Year and she has received many other Awards over the course of her career.
Kirrily’s additional areas of special interest include:
- Diabetes care and education across the ages
- Lived experience of type 1 diabetes
- The role of the pharmacist in diabetes team care
- How the food we eat impacts on your health
- Emotional health and diabetes care
- Insulin pump therapy
- Continuous glucose monitoring
- Looping
- Role of new technology in diabetes care
- Use of positive language to improve diabetes care outcomes
- Diabetes Medscheck and Clinical Interventions experience
- Experience in Home Medication Reviews
- Social media as a support network for people with diabetes
- Development of consumer handouts and information
- Social media engagement, including conducting TwitterChats
- Engaging and highly evaluated presenters
- Blood glucose meters, quality assurance, accuracy and structured monitoring for success
- Advisory Board and Committee membership