Katrina McGrath from Motivation Australia (MA) joined volunteers from the International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) Australian National Member Society Outreach Committee (ISPO Outreach) in presenting a 3 day Instructional Course for High Risk Foot Management in the Pacific. The course provided an introduction to the management of diabetic foot ulcers with a focus on offloading including: theory sessions, demonstrations and hands on practical sessions.
I-Kiribati nursing personnel, physiotherapists and Prosthetist Orthotists where joined at the training by Tonga and Samoa’s only Podiatrists, Katrina Palu and Helene Stehlin. Training participants really enjoyed practicing their assessment and offloading skills on each other.
This training is the first of three training inputs planned for Motivation Australia’s Kiribati Amputation Prevention Project (KAP) this year. The second training scheduled for April will coincide with the establishment of a Diabetic Foot Clinic (DFC) within Kiribati’s Tungaru Central Hospital (TCH).
The MA team would like to thank everyone who participated for their time and contributions. Special thanks go to TCH management who assisted in the planning for the DFC and the Tungaru Rehabilitation Service (TRS) for hosting the training. Further thanks go to ISPO ANMS for their assistance in organising, delivering and sourcing funding for the Instructional Course and for facilitating the attendance of the Pacific Podiatrists.