Manage cardiovascular disease with a dietitian
As a medical professional, you know that nutrition and lifestyle changes can be powerful adjuncts to medical interventions for patients suffering from cardiovascular disease or acute coronary events such as heart attack and stroke. Evidence-based dietary management can also help to prevent disease progression and future acute events. Yet you also know that there isn’t enough time during a standard consultation to delve into a patient’s diet, let alone provide detailed education, meal plans or counselling – even if doing so could markedly enhance self-management and health outcomes. But what if you could call on a collaborative partner to provide these interventions to patients diagnosed with, or at high risk of, cardiovascular disease and coronary events?
How we can help you to help them
A Soaring Health accredited practising dietitian (APD) can partner you in your patients’ medical management. Qualified to work in complex medical and community settings, they can review your patients’ history and status, including medical test results, educate them in the benefits of specific dietary recommendations and provide simple, practical methods and tools to facilitate implementation and maintenance of behaviour modifications in line with cardiovascular disease management and prevention targets. For instance, an individualised, modified diet can help to moderate the key cardiovascular disease risk factors including elevated blood lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides), hypertension and overweight or obesity. Our APDs also use techniques such as motivational interviewing to identify how best to help each person to achieve and maintain changes that help to meet their health goals.
Preventative CVD care for chronic disease patients
Dietetic management can also help to reduce the risk of CVD in patients diagnosed with other chronic conditions that increase cardiovascular disease risk or share risk factors with CVD. These include diabetes, chronic kidney disease and metabolic syndrome (MetS or Syndrome X). Diabetes has been shown to double the risk of CVD, while diabetes patients experience up to 10 times greater prevalence of heart attack and five times greater prevalence of stroke. Overweight and obesity are also risk factors that can be managed using nutrition therapies to reduce CVD risk. Learn more about Soaring Health’s dietetic services for diabetes here.
- Review patients’ test results and treatments and address identified medical priorities (e.g. management of blood lipids, hypertension and body weight) with nutrition
- Assess diet and lifestyle for behaviours/choices related to disease and event risk factors and devise sustainable modifications
- Provide individualised medical nutrition therapy appropriate to age, type of CVD, comorbidities, risk factors and management targets
- Educate patients in benefits of specific diet modification recommendations (e.g. healthy fats)
- Provide tools to facilitate dietary changes to support management targets (e.g. portion modelling, meal planning, label reading, cooking/recipe adjustments and behaviour modification)
- Educate patients in healthy weight loss steps including portion control and strategies to reduce intake or overcome overeating (e.g. mindful eating)
- Work with other health/allied health professionals (e.g. occupational therapist) to facilitate meal preparation within a patient’s capacities
- Confer with you to ensure that dietary management aligns with identified medical targets
Which patients need a CVD dietitian?
An APD can provide nutrition advice to improve clinical outcomes for CVD and related conditions and symptoms including:
- Cardiovascular disease/condition
- Prior cardiovascular/coronary event(s)
- Rehabilitation from acute event/prevention
- Elevated blood lipids (cholesterol, triglycerides)
- Hypertension
- Overweight/obesity
- Diabetes
- Metabolic syndrome
- Chronic kidney disease
- Other identified risk factors/high-risk for CVD
Simple referrals
For Medicare (CDM) patients and those eligible for dietetics services through NDIS, TAC, DVA, My Aged Care and WorkCover, our online referral and enrolment process is simple and enables your patient to promptly access the care they need. Each community program has distinct requirements, which you will be asked to upload on your patient’s form.
For private dietetics clients, a formal referral is not required. They can simply make an online booking via the button below or by phoning (03) 9013 5987.
Melinda
- Dietitian
“Dietetics is most effective when it’s harmonious with each person’s goals and motivation, lifestyle, capacities and preferences and broader healthcare management. I am committed to person-centred care and providing tailored advice to best support individuals to achieve their health and nutrition goals,” says Soaring Health dietitian Melinda. This collaborative approach extends to consulting with clients’ other medical and allied health providers. “I believe strongly in a multidisciplinary team approach to best support clients in achieving their health and wellbeing goals.” -Melinda, Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD)
Online consulting
If your patient(s) can’t get to our clinics or feel more comfortable in their own home, our dietitians can provide online consulting. All a patient needs is an internet connection to receive full clinical dietetics consultations via video at their convenience.
2 convenient clinic locations
Our two clinics are conveniently located and offer appointments to fit in with your patients’ schedules. We’re open 6 days with 8am-8pm weekday opening hours. Choose a clinic to suit.
Thomastown Clinic
Located in: Thomastown Recreation & Aquatic Centre
Address: 54 Main Street, Thomastown VIC 3074
Open Hours:
Weekdays: 8am-8pm
Saturdays: 8am-2pm
Craigieburn Clinic
Located in: Splash Aqua Park and Leisure Centre
Address: 60 Central Park Ave, Craigieburn VIC 3064
Open Hours:
Weekdays: 8am-8pm
Saturdays: 8am-6pm
Templestowe Lower Clinic
Located in: Templestowe Lower Clinic
Address: 139 Williamsons Rd, Templestowe Lower VIC 3107
Open Hours:
Weekdays: 8am-8pm
Saturdays: 8am-6pm
Fees, subsidies and rebates
The fees for private clients for standard 60-minute and 30-minute dietetics consultations are $194 and $80. Eligible private insurance policies may offer rebates on dietetics. Clients with a Chronic Disease Management (CDM) plan may be eligible for Medicare-subsidised consultations. NDIS participants and patients eligible for My Aged Care, TAC, WorkCover and DVA may be eligible for no-gap dietetics consultations.