Aotearoa Diabetes Collective

Aotearoa Diabetes Collective Specialist diabetes care with an equitable purpose
To book - 0800 HEY ADC (439 232)
📖 Evidence Based🎗️Charitable

Did you know that you can try out up to THREE different CGM for free? This post explores the different CGM trials that a...
24/09/2025

Did you know that you can try out up to THREE different CGM for free?

This post explores the different CGM trials that are available and how to access them.

CGM is a total game changer for people with diabetes. We are big fans of people getting the opportunity to try different CGM. We also have a handy comparison guide for the different standalone CGM available on our website.

Nailing diabetes doesn’t always look one way.Sometimes it’s knowing when to pause and ease the pressure. Diabetes distre...
23/09/2025

Nailing diabetes doesn’t always look one way.
Sometimes it’s knowing when to pause and ease the pressure. Diabetes distress and burnout can make day-to-day management feel overwhelming.

We know that living with diabetes can feel relentless.. constant decisions, lots of appointments, remembering medications, dealing with stigma, and worries about complications. The mental load is huge, so it’s understandable if it all feels like too much at times.

In those moments, it’s okay to lower expectations and focus on safety over “perfect” control, while seeking support from your healthcare team and support network. Diabetes is a long-term game. There will be days, weeks, or even months when you’re not as on top of things as you’d like. Support is key during these periods as there are many techniques to reduce diabetes distress.

💡 Did you know? Everyone with diabetes (and caregivers) should be screened for diabetes distress at least once a year. There is a quick 2-question screen, which can lead to longer questionnaires that can help identify which parts of diabetes management are causing the most distress.

Let’s compare the nutrition between some different wraps. Wraps are a super versatile food and can be a great way to por...
20/09/2025

Let’s compare the nutrition between some different wraps.

Wraps are a super versatile food and can be a great way to portion a meal and add lots of extra vegetables and protein.

We have chosen some common white wraps but the principles can be used with any wrap or bread of your choice.

We have focused on fibre and sodium (salt) as most breads and wraps are already low in sugar and saturated fat.

Remember that adding more fibre to your diet helps to feed the bacteria in your gut, help lower cholesterol and keep glucose levels more stable along with helping you to feel more full!

Kia ora e te whānau, to celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori we thought we would share a few kupu. This week is about celebr...
18/09/2025

Kia ora e te whānau, to celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori we thought we would share a few kupu. This week is about celebrating 50 years of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori, a long journey of advocacy and reclamation! We would like to acknowledge and celebrate every person who is on a journey to reclaim their reo, and the mahi you are doing for your tamariki and future generations! We would also like to celebrate tauiwi who are learning and embracing te reo Māori.
Despite the many attempts to reduce the use of Māori kupu in recent years, we are proud to see so many people recognising Te Reo Māori as taonga!

Embracing Te Reo Māori is something we aim to do everyday! We enjoy learning and introducing more kupu into our day-to-day vocab and we are always open to being called forward if we get it wrong 💙

We would love to hear from you in the comments if you have learnt any new kupu this week and how you are celebrating and embracing Te Reo Māori day to day!

Ake Ake Ake.

12/09/2025

Win a Barbie Fashionistas Doll with Type 1 Diabetes 💕
We’re celebrating World Diabetes Day (14th November) with a special giveaway from Mediray!

To enter:

1️ - Like this post

2️- Comment below : Let us know
What diabetes care essentials do you love for spring/summer? Share your favourites, Mediray or otherwise for a chance to win!

3️- Follow us on Facebook

📅 Entries close: 7th Nov 2025, 12pm
🏆 Winner announced on World Diabetes Day – 14th Nov 2025
👉 Share this post and give your friends the chance to win too!

PLEASE NOTE
This giveaway is not sponsored or in partnership with Mattel.
Giveaway only for people living in NZ

We are excited to officially share information about the ACCESS-AID Study which we are proud to involved with: ACCESS-AI...
12/09/2025

We are excited to officially share information about the ACCESS-AID Study which we are proud to involved with:

ACCESS-AID Study – Accelerating Care, Capacity, & Equity in AID Systems for New Zealanders with Type 1 Diabetes
Our New Zealand-wide research team is looking for people with type 1 diabetes or type 3c diabetes who are wanting to transition onto an automated insulin delivery system (AID) to manage their diabetes. The 3-month study aims to assist usual health care teams across Aotearoa, to help people who want an insulin pump system, to get safe and supported access. Whilst better control of glucose levels is a key outcome for this trial, other features such as burden reduction, improved quality of life and treatment satisfaction will also be explored. The study was approved by the Health and Disability Ethics Committees (reference: 2025 FULL 22346).

Interested?
If you (or your child) live with type 1 or type 3c diabetes and are interested in using AID, please contact the study team at access.aid@otago.ac.nz

Urgent Pharmac consultation that will affect many of our whānau living with diabetes! Earlier this year Pharmac consulte...
09/09/2025

Urgent Pharmac consultation that will affect many of our whānau living with diabetes!

Earlier this year Pharmac consulted about changes needed to make the 12 month prescription process work better for people across Aotearoa. They received feedback that has lead to five medicines/items being considered to have the special authority renewal criteria removed. This is great news for people prescribed these items, particularly insulin pump consumables! However we noticed that CGM wasn’t included.
We suspect that given the wording is exactly the same for CGM special authority renewals as it is for pump consumables that this is just an oversight due to CGM being newly funded.

However, this oversight has the potential to impact every person with funded CGM and their wider healthcare team who will have to do special authority renewals every 2 years.

There is still time for us to give feedback and ask for CGM to be included, but there is a very short window. All feedback is due on Monday 15th September at 12pm.

If you would like to give feedback you can email consult@pharmac.govt.nz

You can read more about the consultation here https://www.pharmac.govt.nz/news-and-resources/consultations-and-decisions/changes-to-support-increased-prescription-lengths?type=Consultation&page=1&status=closed

Time flies! It’s nearly been a year of funded CGM for people with type 1, pancreatogenic and monogenic diabetes! This me...
04/09/2025

Time flies! It’s nearly been a year of funded CGM for people with type 1, pancreatogenic and monogenic diabetes!

This means it’s time to organise your special authority renewal. The initial special authority applications were valid for 1 year, but once the renewal is done it will be valid for 2 years.
You need to have a valid special authority number in order to get funded prescriptions.

While the funding came into effect on October 1st, 2024 the renewals can be done now. It’s a good idea to request the special authority renewal with your next CGM prescription in case your prescriber misses this.

We appreciate it is a bizarre thing to have to renew the special authority to confirm that you still require CGM for your diabetes management, but we are so grateful that the funding is available for so many people and hope one day it will be available for many more people with type 2 diabetes and diabetes of pregnancy / GDM.

The Pacific Diabetes Management Course starts next Tuesday 9th of September. We are proud to be supporting this joint pr...
02/09/2025

The Pacific Diabetes Management Course starts next Tuesday 9th of September.
We are proud to be supporting this joint project with The University of Auckland, The University of Waikato and NZSSD.

Dr Ryan Paul, Endocrinologist will be delivering seven webinars covering diabetes management designed especially for our colleagues in the Pacific (recognising not all medication and technology that is available in NZ is available in Pacific counties).

Please share with any colleagues who work in the Pacific who may be interested in joining! There will be recordings and resources available to catch up for late registrations.

https://www.aotearoadiabetescollective.org.nz/pacific-diabetes-management-course/

Yay! We have finally gotten the IT sorted! If you are considering doing a private insulin pump start, but can’t pay up f...
29/08/2025

Yay! We have finally gotten the IT sorted! If you are considering doing a private insulin pump start, but can’t pay up front, no worries! We now have options for payment plans using GoCardless direct credit! We are also now offering 3-month packages of care and a subscription for ongoing private diabetes care. You can explore our private services on our website using the link in our bio and we will share more about our services and new team members soon! We have been a bit MIA lately, but that just means we have been super busy behind the scenes! We are working on more education posts and happy for you to send through requests or suggestions in our DMs

With the cost of living crisis and the crazy-expensive cost of butter, we recently did a post comparing butter to margar...
20/08/2025

With the cost of living crisis and the crazy-expensive cost of butter, we recently did a post comparing butter to margarine. However we know many people like to cook with butter! We thought we would share a ‘this vs that’ comparison of butter versus canola oil, which is a cheaper and healthier alternative for cooking! The other benefit is that Canola oil doesn’t have a strong taste unlike some of the other oils that are healthier (but more expensive) alternatives for cooking.

Remember people with diabetes are much more likely to develop heart disease, so we want to be having a heart healthy diet!

We know that Canola oil along with other seed oils often gets a bad wrap on social media due to concerns about it being inflammatory - this is based on concerns about Omega 6 being more inflammatory compared to Omega 3 (both are polyunsaturated fats). Seed oils are higher in Omega 6, however good quantify research (randomised control trials and meta analysis) show that overall having more polyunsaturated fat is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease which is why Canola oil is still a better alternative than butter when it comes to cooking.. particularly if you are cooking a nutritious meal full of vegetables and lean protein. If you can also increase your Omega 3 intake from things like oil fish and certain nuts and seeds that’s even better! If you want a super healthy alternative and cost isn’t a barrier then you could also look at an extra-virgin olive oil.

Here are a couple of good summary article that talks about some of the concerns people have about seed oils.

https://public-health.uq.edu.au/article/2024/02/if-you%E2%80%99re-worried-about-inflammation-stop-stressing-about-seed-oils-and-focus-basics

https://www.heart.org/en/news/2024/08/20/theres-no-reason-to-avoid-seed-oils-and-plenty-of-reasons-to-eat-them

🚨 urgent product alert for people who use Tandem t:slim X2 insulin pumps!! Medsafe and Pharmac have released an urgent p...
18/08/2025

🚨 urgent product alert for people who use Tandem t:slim X2 insulin pumps!!

Medsafe and Pharmac have released an urgent product alert that is affecting some Tandem insulin pumps. The Malfunction 16 alert is related to a speaker issue in some Tandem pumps. If you get a Malfunction 16 alert your insulin pumps will STOP delivering insulin and cannot be used! The pump will stop communicating with your CGM and the Tandem mobile app. You will need to go back to multiple daily injections of insulin and contact NZMS to organise a replacement pump. Call 0508 634 103.

We know this will cause a lot of anxiety for people who use the Tandem t:slim pump but we hope this post will give you some practical tips to help you stay safe in case of a malfunction with your pump.

It is also a good reminder of why we need to have a good plan for going back to injections and a well stocked back-up kit! If you don’t have everything you need, make sure you get it sorted asap! We love diabetes tech, but problems happen sometimes and you always need to have a plan B ready!

You can check out our back-up kit checklists here https://www.aotearoadiabetescollective.org.nz/diabetes-resources/ #:~:text=Insulin%20pump%20back%2Dup%20kits

Address

Hamilton
3204

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Website

https://linktr.ee/aotearoadiabetescollective

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Aotearoa Diabetes Collective posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share via Email
Share on WhatsApp Share on Instagram Share on Telegram

Category