Psychological problems, such as diabetes distress and depression, are common among people with diabetes. Australian and international guidelines recommend mental health assessment in diabetes care. However, while health professionals often recognise the value of attending to the ‘emotional aspects’ of diabetes, these problems often go undetected in clinical practice. Health professionals cite lack of skills and confidence, and limited access to practical resources as common barriers. Under the remit of the NDSS National Development Program for Mental Health and Diabetes, we developed an evidence-based, practical Handbook for health professionals. The aim is to equip health professionals with essential information and tools for how to identify, communicate about, and address emotional challenges in diabetes consultations.

The Handbook was developed based upon literature reviews,stakeholder consultations and peer reviews, involving a multidisciplinary Expert Reference Group, academic experts and end-users (health professionals, people with diabetes). Eight chapters cover communication, adjustment (grief), diabetes distress, depression, anxiety, diabetes-related fears (e.g. of hypoglycaemia), psychological barriers to insulin, and disordered eating. To provide a consistent chapter structure, we adapted the ‘5As’ model, commonly used by health professionals, to a ‘7As’ model (Figure 1). The additions, ‘be Aware’ and ‘Assign’, reflect the need for vigilance about emotional distress and potential referrals to specialists. The model is a key feature and provides a step-by-step format to identify and address psychological problems. This presentation will describe the Handbook development process, and how it can be implemented in clinical practice, using the ‘7As’ model as a guide.

The Handbook is an evidence-based, clinically-informed, practical resource to support health professionals in meeting the psychological health needs of adults with diabetes in routine clinical care. Our stakeholder consultations suggest there will be high demand for this resource, which will be made available to health professionals via the NDSS.