Polio Place

Catriona Morehouse, PT; Gnanaletchumy Jegasothy, PT (Ret); Ann Buchan, PT; Merete Bertelsen, PT

Catriona Morehouse is a Physiotherapist at Mt. Wilga Private Hospital's Late Effects of Polio Assessment Clinic in Sydney, Australia.

M Jegasothy (Jega) retired from the position of Senior Physiotherapist at Royal Perth Hospital, Shenton Park Campus, Perth, Western Australia, in April 2014. Jega no longer works as a physiotherapist but maintains her interest in the Late Effects of Polio through the Post Polio Network of WA , Polio Australia, and Polio NZ. Jega’s experience is in the area of acquired brain injury (ABI) rehabilitation over 30 years and in the area of late effects of disability (LED) for over 10 years. In the area of late effects of disability, Jega looked at the protocol of running a late effects of disability clinic, improving efficiency of client admission into the clinic, networking with professionals for effective decentralisation of clinical services, and patient education. Clients with the late effects of polio (LEoP) form a major component of the LED Clinic.

Ann Buchan trained in Melbourne, then followed many years of Australian and overseas training and experience in neurological and neuromuscular issues. She has been a tutor, educator and mentor for physiotherapy students and graduates. In 2004, she qualified as the first titled Neurophysiotherapist in Australia, with involvement in a wide range of state-wide community and educational activities, including workshops, clinical research, media production and palliative care. She has always had a special interest in long term disabilities – especially post-polio issues – and works in private practice at Unley Physiotherapy and at Aldgate Seniors on falls prevention. She helped set up the first Polio Clinic in South Australia and assisted with editing polio information handbooks. Ann believes that physical, emotional, social, mental and spiritual aspects must all be considered in treatment and a balance is needed between the art and science of Physiotherapy.

Merete Bertelsen has been employed at The Danish Society of Polio- and Accident Victims (PTU) Rehabilitation center since 1985 working with professional development of treatment for polio survivors comprising both research and practical treatment. The last 4 years Merete has also been involved in a quality and accreditation process of the rehabilitation center. Merete was the organizer of the 1st European polio conference in Copenhagen 2011.