Polio Australia keeping people out of hospital system
Polio Australia is working on keeping the people it represents out of the hospital system.
Polio (poliomyelitis or infantile paralysis) is now a disease that has virtually been forgotten. Although vaccination programs beginning in the late 1950s have prevented new infections in Australia, polio survivors still today, form the largest single disability group in the country.
Since the late 1980s much attention has been drawn to the development of new symptoms which occur in people who were thought to have reached a stable level of recovery after the acute disease.
These symptoms are commonly known as the “late effects of polio”. However, many polio survivors who have emerging symptoms still report difficulty in obtaining correct diagnosis and treatment, and are frustrated by the lack of co-ordinated health care options.
Polio Australia was established in 2008 and its major goal is to inform health professionals and the community about the late effects of polio and their management through the identification, development and presentation of nationally consistent education and self-management programs.
Effective self-management of their chronic condition to minimise or stabilise the late effects is of paramount importance to polio survivors. Failing this, many are forced into early retirement with consequent loss of financial security and self esteem, or face lengthy stays in hospital and premature admission into nursing homes as they lose the ability to care for themselves.
The late effects of polio will become an increasing issue for communities around Australia as the population ages, and as the community diversifies through immigration.
The large number of survivors who are now experiencing new symptoms has transformed the problem from an individual predicament to a social concern.
