Diabetes Australia urge people to get tested for type 2 diabetes
Diabetes Australia is encouraging the public to get tested for type 2 diabetes in a new public service announcement which compares the threat of the disease with phobias.
Created in-house by the Diabetes Australia communications team, the campaign features a man being terrified by sharks, spiders and clowns before the message that “two million Australians are at high-risk of developing type two diabetes, we think that’s scary”.
Diabetes Australia CEO Professor Greg Johnson said in a statement: “What many people don’t realise is that type 2 diabetes doesn’t just affect older people or those who are overweight or obese. Type 2 diabetes can affect anyone. It is a serious and complex condition. Many people don’t take the type 2 diabetes risk seriously.”
Four years ago today I lost a good friend to complications relating to his type 1 diabetes. In my mind, awareness is key for us all.
The online test they give you on the site the ad links to is ridiculous! All my answers were the canned “better” ones (eat the required fruit and veg, do the exercise, don’t smoke, no family history, etc) yet my result was the worrying “moderate risk of diabetes.” Aside from my age (46-55) nothing should have rung any bells. They are going to alarm a lot of people with this, but perhaps that’s their intention.
Hi Michael, age alone and gender are enough to put you in the moderate risk group.
Here is a link to the background info on the tool development: http://www.health.gov.au/inter.....ev-aus-exp and why an Australian-specific tool was developed here: http://www.cardiologyupdate.co.....-high-risk
It is an evidenced-based tool. It does not mean that you are going to develop type 2 diabetes, but it does address the risk that the person has and identifies the lifestyle changes that are important, or if the person has already adopted the changes, then the importance of sustaining them.
This is such a fun way to get an important message across – I love it!