Over the past three years, we have been working to address some of the key issues affecting the lives of polio survivors, informed by our members’ personal feedback and experiences.
We have achieved many of the goals we set out to reach, as detailed below, and we are now seeking input from people experiencing the late effects of polio as we plan our future activities
Much of our previous campaign was aimed at raising awareness about the late effects of polio among health professionals, to increase their knowledge on supporting polio survivors as they age.
Our achievements so far include:
- creating an information booklet for medical professionals, which was the first of its kind to be approved as an accepted clinical resource by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)
- working closely with leading experts in Queensland to develop Australia’s first comprehensive online education module for GPs about the late effects of polio, which was also accredited by the RACGP
- Participating actively on the Board of Polio Australia and assisting them to promote educational sessions to polio survivors and health professionals.
- Joining the Assistive Technology for All Alliance and advocating for more funding to be made available to polio survivors and other people over the age of 65 years.
Information for polio survivors to share
- We have provided copies of our information booklet to all current members who are polio survivors, called ‘Late effects of polio: a guide to management for medical professionals’. You can give this to your GP and other health professionals to help develop their knowledge. If you would like to be sent a copy, contact us or click here to find the link to share the online version.
- You can also encourage your GP to complete the ThinkGP professional development course, called ‘What’s polio got to do with general practice in Australia in 2020?’.The one-hour module is called and aims to educate GPs on the late effects of polio and how to identify and support patients who may be experiencing symptoms. Click here to find the link to share.
We are focused on continuing to support polio survivors with advocacy, community connections and other services, to help improve their quality of life.
If you have any questions about the survey, or would like to connect with other people in your community, please contact us.