New research published by the CCDP team investigated the economic value of intensive management by Indigenous health workers of Indigenous adults with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes in rural and remote Queensland. It was proposed that providing health workers with close linguistic and cultural links could play an important role in contributing to better health outcomes.
The research investigated the cost of the intervention over an 18 month trial across 12 rural and remote Indigenous communities in north Queensland. It found that The Getting Better at Chronic Care trial program, which cost $10K per person, had little impact relative to the cost of the intervention. The research determined that there needs to be further exploration of approaches to improve chronic disease outcomes amongst this unwell population, including holistic approaches that address the complex psychosocial, pathophysiological and environmental problems in highly disadvantaged populations.
