芒果直播

Dr Sean Taylor is a leading First Nations healthcare professional, working to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders across Australia.

Dr Taylor is also on the 芒果直播鈥檚 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Expert Reference Group.

First Nations Australians are up to four times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than other Australians.

He wants to change the diabetes outlook for people in remote communities to increase the uptake of self-management.

鈥淚t was all around seeing with the naked eye how diabetes, or poorly-managed diabetes, can destroy a population,鈥� he says.

鈥淪ome of the secondary complications are renal disease, cardiovascular disease like heart attacks, we have eye problems, we have poor sensation in our feet 鈥� so a lot of people who have family member with diabetes will have seen some of this.鈥�

Dr Taylor graduated with a public health doctorate, specializing in improving diabetes care and management in remote health care settings. His study included overseas internships at universities in the USA, Canada and Germany.

He hopes NAIDOC Week and its theme to 鈥楬eal Country, heal our nation鈥� will bring attention to the diabetes epidemic in indigenous communities.

鈥淚n terms of health, and diabetes specifically, to heal country we need to be able to heal ourselves. That means ensuring First Nations people with diabetes have the resources and knowledge to take charge of their own healthcare,鈥� he said.

鈥淚 think there is an important message for health professionals working with First Nations people and that is you need to communicate effectively in a way people understand and interpret.

鈥淔irst Nations people want to heal but they need to be supported appropriately and in partnership with health professionals.鈥�