People living with diabetes who are without a family doctor or endocrinologist will soon have access to a new support program that will help them manage their disease. The Quebec government has just granted $2 million to Diabetes Quebec so that it can launch an initiative offering remote advice and care.
Diabetes Quebec estimates that tens of thousands of Quebecers suffering from type 2 diabetes are currently without a family doctor. The organization will offer them help starting this fall, until they are taken care of by a care team.
“The idea is to have a program that allows these people to have the minimum training in terms of lifestyle measures, nutrition, physical activity and, possibly, blood sugar monitoring,” said the Dr Rémi Rabasa-Lhoret, president of the professional board of Diabetes Quebec. The follow-up will be for a few months. Patients will have access to online resources (self-study modules, for example) and will be able to talk to professionals, such as a nurse, a nutritionist or a kinesiologist.
Type 1 diabetics who do not have an endocrinologist will be able to benefit from the program this summer. According to Diabetes Quebec, the regions of Gaspésie and Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Côte-Nord and Témiscamingue do not have a specialist of this type on their territory. “At least 1,000 patients with type 1 diabetes do not have access to any specialized service in these regions,” says Dr.r Rabasa-Lhoret.
These Quebecers must be followed by family doctors on site – “who do the best they can”, specifies the Dr Rabasa-Lhoret — or by remote endocrinologists. Some patients from the Magdalen Islands are forced to travel to Quebec to consult a specialist. “The government pays them for airfare and hotel,” says the doctor.
Thanks to the new program, these patients will also be entitled, if necessary, to follow-up by an endocrinologist while waiting for theirs. This will reduce state costs and the burden on front-line doctors, thinks Diabetes Quebec. The Dr Rabasa-Lhoret adds that nursing and nutrition students from the University of Montreal will do internships within the program.
Some 8,500 type 1 and 2 diabetics will be able to take part in the program each year. Interested patients must express their interest to Diabetes Quebec, which will make a selection. The government hopes, through this initiative, to be able to reduce emergency room visits related to diabetes complications.