Community exercise for long-term management of diabetes and multimorbidity
Health Research Council (HRC), 36 months, $1,181,772
Professor Leigh Hale, Dr Ram Mani., Dr Prasath Jayakaran and Chris Higgs from the School of Physiotherapy have secured $1,181,772 funding for a Community Exercise Programme (CEP), for people living with type II diabetes based on an inter-professional coordinated, patient centred, whānau-supported package of care.
CEP was developed in Dunedin to specifically target Māori and Pacific people and those living in low socioeconomic areas. It combines twice weekly education with tailored exercise for 12 weeks, followed by an ongoing weekly maintenance exercise class. The aim of this exploratory randomised controlled trial is to investigate whether those taking part in CEP have more control of their diabetes and have better health outcomes one year later than people who do not participate in it. The study will also find out whether CEP is cost effective and what is required to roll it out into other areas of New Zealand.
The project is a collaborative effort and other Otago named investigators are: Professor Jim Mann (Department of Human Nutrition), Professor Timothy Stokes (General Practice and Rural Health), Dr Fiona Doolan-Noble (General Practice and Rural Health), Dr Trudy Sullivan (Preventive and Social Medicine) and Mr Andrew Gray (Preventive and Social Medicine).