Dozens of women turnout for specialised Royal Flying Doctor Service clinic in remote South Australia

By Caroline Winter

"One of the things we're also discussing is diabetes and coronary artery disease, these are two of the major killers of women, particularly Aboriginal women," said Dr Williams.

"To try and do something about weight control, sugar control, fat control, blood pressure control at this stage, can prevent a lot of major heart disease and a lot of stroke, so it's very important in this age group."

Christine Lennon, a 49-year-old mother of one, was born and bred in the remote town.

Ten years ago she found out she was diabetic and made some lifestyle changes.

"I've been talking to dieticians and that because I'm diabetic and I'm proud of myself, I'm pleased because I'm not high or low, I'm probably the perfect patient," she said.

"I've managed to stay on the Metforman tablets all this time, so I've never ever had to increase, or go on insulin, or anything like that, blood pressure's perfect."

Changing her diet and adopting some light exercise are two factors that have helped give ms Lennon the title of "perfect patient", they were also two elements in focus during the women's clinic.

RFDS Lifestyle Adviser, Denise O'Connell, said teaching the women simple exercises; like stretching using large elastic bands, can make a difference.

"I want to get the women chatting and laughing and hopefully at the same time learning a few things about how to exercise," she said.

"To get a bit more incidental exercise and a bit of exposure to healthy eating and what that looks like, rather than preaching to them about what that is, it's more about showing them what it is."

For lunch, a spread including salad, cold meat and cheese was laid out on a table for those who attended, to make healthy wraps.

It was the first time the clinic fell silent all day and was music to the ears of RFDS Healthy Services Program Manager, Alison Day.

She could see the women were enjoying not just lunch, but a healthy lunch they made themselves.

"While we do these programs in these remote locations, we don't always get the feedback about what impact we have," Ms Day said.

"So to have a day that's focused particularly on women's health issues, where we have the opportunity to get the data from patients such as their blood pressure, their blood sugar levels, their weight, their waist circumferences, gives us really good information to be able to compare how their measurements have been in the past."

She said regular GP visits and holistic lifestyle programs like this, are vital in trying to "close the gap" in Indigenous disadvantage.

"We'll certainly it's well known that Indigenous people live at least 10 years less, on average, than non Indigenous people.

"Their access to health services is not as regular and they often have a much higher incident of chronic disease and heart conditions and those sorts of, often preventable diseases, that are really a result of less regular access to health care."