Diabetes-related foot disease is a leading cause of morbidity, mortality and healthcare cost burdens in Australia. Studies show these burdens can be considerably reduced when implementing guideline-based DFD care.
We have developed and released new Australian DFD Guidelines for the first time in a decade, giving health professionals multidisciplinary best practice standards of care for the provision of DFD care within Australia with the PDF paper versions of the guidelines available to download below.
The Australian DFD Guidelines are available on a digital and interactive platform. A free one-stop-shop for accessing the full six guidelines that also provides ten digital decision-making pathways to assist busy health professionals to easily access online and interactive evidence-based guideline information at a touch or click of a button!
You can also access the paper guidelines by clicking on the below link to the full Guideline webpage.
The Diabetes and Feet companion toolkit has been designed to help busy multidisciplinary health professionals use guideline recommended diabetes-related foot care at any time and place and with the person with a diabetes-related foot ulcer right there in front of them. This resource was funded by the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS), an initiative of the Australian Government and administered by Diabetes Australia, in partnership with Diabetes Feet Australia and the Australian Diabetes Society.
The Diabetes and Feet toolkit includes:
• an overview of each guideline from the 2021 Australian guidelines for diabetes-related foot disease
• recommendations for each guideline
• implementation and monitoring considerations
• considerations for the Australian context
• practical pathways for each guideline to help optimise the implementation of the recommendations.
This valuable resource provides health professionals with both quick and easy to access to evidence-based best practice and when further information is required, the digital platform or PDF paper guidelines can be utilised.
In 2017, we released the 2018-2022 National Strategy for diabetes-related foot disease with the aim to ensure that all people living with DFD have access to and receive safe quality evidence-based care when and where they need it, and that future investments in research and development would continue to strive to improve their care delivery and health outcomes over time.
With the current national strategy at its conclusion, the DFA team has been busy reviewing what we have achieved as a nation over the last six years, and to determine the new priorities and recommendations to help lead the nation in tackling diabetes feet health and disease. The next national strategy for diabetes-related foot health & disease is now in its final development stages with the draft strategy releasing for public consultation in November 2024.
So...get ready as we'll be inviting you to have your say in helping to guide our national diabetes-related feet health and disease priorities.
Published in the Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, this guideline contains 10 key recommendations to guide health professionals in selecting the most appropriate footwear to meet the specific foot risk needs of an individual with diabetes. This footwear guideline updates the 2013 Australian practical guideline on the provision of footwear for people with diabetes.