About Us

The Patient Engagement And Coaching for Health (PEACH) project is led by Professor Doris Young. The study has been funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) GP Clinical Research Grants Program in November 2005 and will run until October 2008. Our aim is to find ways of improving the health of patients with Type 2 diabetes, through an intensive treatment intervention for patients.

Diabetes has been the subject of major policy initiatives involving individual GP’s, Divisions of General Practice and Practice Nurses. Diabetes has been a National Health Priority of the Australian Department of Health and Ageing since 1996.

The study aims to explore how patients can take more control of how they manage their own diabetes and therefore the potential to improve disease outcomes and reduce health costs associated with a disease that has a high prevalence in Australia and is particularly associated with social disadvantage.

The research team will be overseen by a reference group consisting of representatives of the relevant stakeholders and partners, i.e. policy makers, diabetes organizations, North West and Northern Melbourne Divisions of GP, Australian Practice Nurse Association, consumer groups to provide broader input into the recruitment and the intervention design of the study.