From Prior Weeks at PHI ...
August 17, 2008
Join us at 
for
August 10, 2008
Reunion invitation for September 13th to those who were a patient, employee, physician, volunteer or construction worker at the Children’s Free Hospital, Farmington, Michigan.
August 3, 2008
SAVE THE DATE!
Universal Design Summit III: Creating Livable Homes & Communities
Sept. 21-23, 2008, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri
Universal Design Summit III continues its tradition of providing outstanding content in universal design features in housing, sustainability, community design, green design and affordability with a focus on homes and communities for everyone.
CEUs (AIA, AOTA, ASID and others) are available. For more information: udsummit@starkloff.org; 314-588-7090
July 27, 2008
New Blog at www.graceryoung.com Grace R. Young, MA, OTR/L, is a polio survivor and retired occupational therapist.
For many years she was the post-polio resource person for all the Kaiser-Permanente medical centers in Southern California and taught classes in energy conservation.
Check out her blog that covers various topics related to living well with a disability.
July 20, 2008
Underserved? Need a rehabilitation physician?
PHI has been contacted by a gentleman who will be completing his residency in June of 2009 in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Washington in Seattle, with Dr. Walter Stolov. He would like a position for at least a year in an underserved area of the world.
Please contact director@post-polio.org for details.
July 13, 2008
From British Columbia:
Guidelines for Establishing a Water Exercise Program for Post-Polio Participants (2006) by Lanny Taschuk and Patrick Fleck is available for a charge of $12 (Canadian) plus shipping and handling from the Post-Polio Awareness and Support Society of British Columbia.
July 6, 2008
WHO's Surgical Safety Checklist:
You've heard about it, but have you seen it?
WHO surgical safety checklist [pdf 445kb]
Implementation manual [pdf 1.56MB]
June 29, 2008
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved KINRIX™ [Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Acellular Pertussis Adsorbed and Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine], a combination vaccine by GlaxoSmithKline offering protection against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio diseases in one shot. It is approved for children ages 4-6. Also getting approval was Sanofi Pasteur's five-in-one shot for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and illness due to Haemophilus influenzae type b, or HiB. For details on this and other approved vaccines, check out Vaccines Licensed for Immunization and Distribution in the US.
Also, check out Vaccines and Immunizations
June 22, 2008
The Washington University Program in Occupational Therapy, in St. Louis, Missouri, is recruiting participants for a study that aims to understand what people with sensory and/or mobility impairments do in their daily life, how their environment affects their community participation and what, if any, help they need to complete these activities. See Study of Community Participation.
June 15, 2008
Announcement: The first post-polio clinic in Mexico is currently receiving polio survivors, providing them with evaluation, diagnosis and treatment, regarding late effects of polio. This clinic is part of the Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación, a health national institute of the Mexican government, which is dedicated to rehabilitation medicine.
Dr. Alejandra Castillo Millán
Tel 59 99 10 00, ext 11 125 y 11 126
Dr. Teresa de Jesús Baños Mendoza
Tel 59 99 10 00, ext 13 115
For more information see LITAFFAC or OMCETPAC.
June 8, 2008
Join us in Warm Springs, Georgia, at
for the 10th gathering of the post-polio community
coordinated by Post-Polio Health International.
The extensive program will provide polio survivors tools to live well with the late effects of polio; offer a forum for the exchange of ideas among survivors, families and health care professionals; and explore the history and legacy of the polio epidemics and its survivors. (The conference is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm on Thursday, April 23, 2009. The final educational session will end at 4:00 pm on Saturday, April 25, 2009, but there will be a social event on Saturday evening.
Hotel accommodations will vary in cost and luxury. Watch www.post-polio.org for details.
Interested in a pre-conference retreat that will go one-step beyond re-rehabilitation and focus on health and wellness? A Post-Polio Wellness Retreat is being planned for Sunday, April 18, 2009 – Thursday, April 23, 2009. It will be modeled after the popular retreats held at Bay Cliff Health Camp in Big Bay, Michigan. Want to know more? Watch the 10-minute DVD "Holistic Health and Wellness Retreat for Polio Survivors."
June 1, 2008
Polio Survivors needed for Post-Polio Syndrome study
If you have fatigue, weakness, joint or muscle pain, difficulty with memory, concentration or attention, you may be experiencing post-polio syndrome (PPS). Dr. William DeMayo and colleagues (Johnstown, Pennsylvania) are investigating problems involving mental fatigue that may affect concentration, memory, attention, etc.
Qualified participants will receive the following free study-related items:
- Physical and Neurological Exams
- Laboratory Testing
- Neuropsycological testing
If you are at least 18 years old, have a history of polio and are facing the problems described above, please contact the study nurse coordinator, Janet Goodard, RN, at 814-269-5288, 800-585-5875 or jgoodar@conemaugh.org for more information and to determine if you might be a candidate for the study. The study will last a total of 2 to 4 weeks and require 2 to 3 visits to Conemaugh Health System, Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Update on Global Eradication
| Total Cases | Year-to-date 2008 | Year-to-date 2007 | Total 2007 |
| Globally | 453 | 171 | 1313 |
| -in endemic countries* | 432 | 145 | 1207 |
| -in non-endemic countries | 21 | 26 | 106 |
*Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, Pakistan
Source: Global Polio Eradication Initiative
Ray Taylor, post-polio support group leader in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and founder of Rotary Polio Survivors and Associates Action Group (PSA) displays the $10,000 check for the Rotary International’s PolioPlus Campaign from the local Pinehurst Rotary Club, tripling the amount requested from Rotary International.
Taylor and current Chair of PSA, Ann Lee Hussey, invite survivors who are Rotarians to stop by the PSA booth at the 2008 RI Convention in Los Angeles, June 15-18.
Stop at the PHI or IVUN exhibit booth (#629) at the
National ADA Symposium & Expo Assistive Technology Consumer Fair
May 12-13, 2008
America’s Center-Hall 1
Saint Louis, Missouri.
May 4, 2008Australians Mary-ann Liethof, and Jill Pickering pictured with Joan L. Headley (left) in the PHI office.
Liethof and Pickering are on a five-week tour of North American post-polio centers.
Writing Poetry to Heal the Spirit: A message from Mary McManus
New approach to housing in Cambridge, Maryland, for aging polio survivors. From Mary Esther Boyd, Cambridge Harbor Development, LLC (maryestherboyd@comcast.net)
I am looking for "a few good men and women" who might be interested in condominium housing in Cambridge, Maryland that would be constructed specifically for the needs of post-polio persons as well as others with similar needs. My name is Mary Esther Boyd and we have an approved project in Cambridge, Maryland for eight elevator townhouse projects and two cottages across the street from Cambridge Creek.
Our approved townhouses are four stories. The cottages are two stories. Each unit is allotted one parking space and one garage space.
We are proposing to upfit eight units with all the power, back-up power, amenities, and security that would be required to make these comfortable and safe homes for post-polio persons. The two cottages would be reserved for attendants.
A rough estimate of the cost of each of the eight units is $500,000. We are wondering if there are any people possibly interested in this project and, if interested, what amenities and needs would need to be built in. Once we know of at least ten interested buyers we would create an architectural drawing and budget for each unit. After modification we would need permission from the city to modify our existing drawings and, if permission is obtained, we would create commitments from buyers sufficient to obtain proper financing for construction. If financing cannot be obtained there is no obligation to buyers.
Cambridge, Maryland, is near Washington, DC, at the confluence of the Chesapeake Bay and the Choptank River. Two of the leading research institutes nearby are the NIH and Johns Hopkins University. We hope to make this project a model for construction for post-polio syndrome and other neurological diseases and that the experience in the whole process can teach us lessons for the future as we try and meet the needs of these very special groups. We also hope that the proximity to federal and private research and clinical institutions can serve as a motivation for new discoveries for this community.
More about the company: Cambridge Harbor Development, LLC is a small niche development company interested in developing properties not usually of interest to large developers. We have renovated low-income properties in Washington, DC, as well as Cambridge, Maryland, that we have made available to immigrant and Hispanic families unfamiliar with real estate in America. We also have developed waterfront and upscale properties in St. Michaels, Maryland, and Lewes, Delaware. We have a particular interest in neurological conditions as one of our family members has the challenges of post-polio syndrome and one of our cousins suffered from MS. References would be available to any interested buyers. We are hoping that if this small project is successful we may be able to persuade other developers to upfit housing for the neurologically impaired.
Member states of the EPU are Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. Prior to the rally, the groups gathered the signatures of 75 Members of the European Parliament (MEP) in support of the cause.
