Post Polio Support Group
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Mission Statement
Our mission is to create awareness and provide information regarding the late effects of polio among polio survivors, statutory agencies and the wider medical profession, and to ensure that the needs of polio survivors relating to their condition are met to enable them to live with dignity. Polio Survivors Ireland works to maintain the independence and dignity of polio survivors, supporting them at work, in the home and otherwise. Our Core Objectives are to create awareness and provide information on the needs of polio survivors and on Post Polio Syndrome and to support and advocate on behalf of all polio survivors in Ireland.
About This Cause
We are the only organisation in Ireland providing practical support (and sometimes more importantly a listening ear) to those unfortunate enough to have contracted polio when babies or young children. We assist polio survivors, who are now in advancing years, by providing mobility supports such as stair lifts, electric scooters and wheelchairs; therapies such as physiotherapy and counselling; and in particular Winter Heating Grants to help alleviate polio survivors’ extreme intolerance to cold. These services and supports enable polio survivors to maintain their independence and dignity despite their disability. There are thought to be 7,000 polio survivors, who lived through the epidemics of the 40s and 50s in Ireland. These are an aging population, whose needs increase as they grow older and the Late Effects of Polio, or Post Polio Syndrome develop – making them feel as though their polio has returned. We provide services to approximately 900 polio survivors and are engaging with approximately 400 additional survivors via our National Polio Register. Polio Survivors are a tough, independent bunch. They’ve had to be since most of them spent much of their childhood in hospital, losing out on education and going through years of surgery or painful rehabilitation. They have worked for decades to overcome their disability only to have it worsen in later years due to Post Polio Syndrome. Sadly, up to 60% of survivors can be afflicted by this cruel condition causing fatigue, chronic pain and increasing disability that can make even simple tasks like making a cup of tea impossible. They can lose muscle tone and become vulnerable to falls. The condition can also affect survivors’ circulation, making them susceptible to the cold and at risk of hypothermia.