Our Team

Helen Edwards – BASW (Hons); Diabetes Ed; PhD Candidate

Blogger, Consultant,Writer & Coach

Founder of Diabetes Counselling Online, President of the Board

Helen Edwards has hadtype-1 diabetes since 1979, when she was 12 years old and is the founder of Diabetes Counselling Online which she started in 2001 after seeking support herself and finding very little out there.

She has a degree in Social Work is also a qualified Diabetes Educator.

Helen is married with 3 boys, offering personal understanding and experiences of living with diabetes over a very long period of time, including going through 3 pregnancies and bringing up 3 beautiful children. She is particularly passionate about pregnancy and diabetes and is undertaking her PhD, looking at diabetes distress in pregnancy and early motherhood for women with type 1 diabetes.

In addition she is a blogger at www.recycledinteriors.org which is all about helping you create a happy healthy home and life. And social media consultant and offers a range of courses, including for diabetes at www.helenedwardscreates.org

Read more of her story here

Helen Wilde – Volunteer Counsellor

Helen has a Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Education, Dip T (sec) and has 10 years counselling experience in secondary schools. She also has Type 2 diabetes and is the parent of a child (now adult) with type 1 diabetes. Helen has a wealth of personal experience in the challenges diabetes can bring to families. Her teaching experience and training includes drama, with strong elements of narrative and psychology. Helen has been working with us for many years and is a very experienced online diabetes counsellor who provides personal support in our groups on Facebook. She also manages our peer support team. Helen also volunteers a large amount of her personal time to fundraising and sustaining our organisation.

David Mapletoft – volunteer Diabetes Educator

David has been as a registered nurse since 1980. He has experience working in Australia and England, and online throughout the world. His fields of nursing proficiency have been cardio-thoracic (open heart) surgery; midwifery; and in diabetes education since 1998. David joined our team in September 2012 as a part time Diabetes Educator offering e-consults and support on social media. The grant has now ended but he is volunteering some of his time to our Facebook groups still.

David has a strong belief in a safe and effective ‘Diabetes Self Care Plan’, with a belief that the person at the centre of this plan – the person who designs the plan, the most important part of the diabetes team – is the person living with diabetes. David is also an award winning photographer. “This is my passion, my escape from the world of health. Having said that, I see many things in my photography walks that inspire me to write about health here with the DCO community.

  Sally Marchini – Accredited Practising Dietitian – volunteer

Having lived with both type 1 diabetes and coeliac disease for many years, at mid-life Sally was inspired to change careers and become qualified as an Accredited Practising Dietitian so she could talk the talk, as well as walking the walk, to help others with similar health conditions improve their quality of life. Sally joined us part time from May 2013 to support people around food and diabetes on our social media group services and now the grant has ended has ceased her role. However she will be offering some voluntary support in our Facebook groups.

Cindy Tolba, practicing pharmacist, clinical consultant pharmacist. Volunteer Pharmacist and Diabetes Educator

Cindy’s passion for diabetes has stemmed from close family members having type two diabetes. Early on in her career she was working as a medical representative with Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals to educate doctors on their wide insulin products and on hormone replacement therapy. Since graduating from her pharmacy degree she has involved herself in different volunteer positions educating indigenous communities and rural nurses in diabetes care and education. She has also had the opportunity to involve herself with an Application called Real Time Health and provided educational film clips on different aspects of diabetes care for the Pharmacist Advice banner group. She works in conjunction with her husband at TC PLUS pharmacist Advice pharmacy in Rosewater, Adelaide and in Elizabeth East All health pharmacy. Both pharmacies are NDSS (National Diabetes Service Scheme) Access points. Free diabetes health checks can be conducted at either pharmacy.

Cindy has a great interest in specialising in medication management and can conduct Med Checks in the pharmacy. She can also speak fluent Arabic. She is a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA), Australian Association of Consultant Pharmacy (AACP), and the Australian Diabetes Educator Association (ADEA).

Vivienne McKenna – Business Manager, Secretary to the Board and volunteer fundraising team

Viv has been an integral part of fundraising and business management of DCO for many years. She has been Secretary and Treasurer to the Board since 2012. Viv has personal experience of type 2 diabetes and family members with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, as well as a multitude of skills that enhance our organisation in her role as Business Manager which she is now doing on a voluntary basis.

Ron Swizer – Treasurer

Ron has an extensive professional accounting and general business experience, a former partner in KPMG, CFO of multinational companies, General Manager – CPA Australia (NSW) and University teaching. He is a Chartered Accountant, CPA and graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Currently, Ron consults into the Not-for-Profit sector and a member of a number of audit committees, community and charity boards. Ron’s professional experience encompasses accounting, finance, strategic planning, governance, operational reviews, auditing, risk management, facilitation & training. This interest in the NFP sector, general community involvement, a strong commitment to good governance and a grandson with T1D has attracted Ron specifically to the vision and work of Diabetes Counselling Online.

Dr Kate Marsh – Board Member

Dr Kate Marsh is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) and Credentialled Diabetes Educator (CDE) working in private practice in Sydney. She has a PhD in nutrition and a Master of Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Sydney, and a Graduate Certificate in Diabetes Education and Management from UTS.

Kate has been a board member for Diabetes Counselling Online since 2007. She is also chair of the Australian Diabetes Educators Association (ADEA) Clinical Practice Committee and the Australian Diabetes Educator (ADE) editorial advisory Group, a member of the Diabetes Australia Medical Education Scientific Advisory Council (MESAC) and the editorial board for Diabetic Management Journal, and co-convenor of the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) diabetes interest group. Kate is editor of the Australian Diabetes Educator and a regular contributor to Diabetic Living Magazine. She was recently awarded the ADEA inaugural CDE of the Year award.

Kate has also lived with type 1 diabetes for more than 30 years, so has a real understanding of the issues faced in the day to day management of diabetes.

Maurissa Ailion – Board Member

Triumph Human Response to Crisis. MEd BASW (Psychology, Group Work), JP. MAIES
Maurissa is has a long history of successful; involvement with community and public sectors and excellent connections across many groups. She is an articulate communicator with exceptional interpersonal skills as well being an effective leader, manager and team builder. A Proven professional with extensive experience in Project Management, Creative Problem Solving and Trouble Shooting with the ability to act as an Advocate, Mediator, Facilitator and Trainer. Maurissa is innovative, passionate and committed to her work. She is dedicated to supporting and mentoring colleagues and workers. Her ethos is one of “making a difference” and “going the extra mile” She places a strong value on relationships and relationship building in every aspect of her work, with an understanding that developing and nurturing respectful relationships is fundamental to life. She has a great sense of humour!

Nathan Bassett – DCO Ambassador

Nathan Bassett has been supporting Diabetes Counselling Online for many years and is central to many of our events and fundraising drives. Playing for the Adelaide Crows as a key defender for many years, Nathan has had his share of serious injury or illness more than a dozen times throughout his football career. Despite this he has always gone ahead and forged on to achieve his dreams. In the 2008 AFL season he was rewarded when he became just the eighth Crow to reach his 200th game. After retiring from playing AFL, he has taken on a multi premiership coaching role at Norwood football club in South Australia, been assistant coach at Essendon football club, and is returning to Adelaide in 2016 to join the Port Adelaide coaching team! In addition he is dad to 2 beautiful children and enjoys family life. Nathan says of his diabetes diagnosis: “It was a huge shock,” and this is usually the case for anyone diagnosed with diabetes. “To be told you are going to need up to four injections a day for the rest of your life and test your blood glucose levels regularly, as well as watch what you eat and drink – not to mention the longer term complications – is a lot to take in at any age, let alone 20.”

Initially he was taking just two insulin injections a day but after 6 years found he was struggling to get through games. He reached out for help and with support of an Endocrinologist ( diabetes specialist), he increased his insulin dosage from two to four injections a day. He hasn’t looked back since. Nathan now has his type 1 diabetes under good control and had his best season in 2006 when he was named an All-Australian. Nathan is involved in many diabetes events and organisations and supports people living with the disease.

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