ME/CFS Awareness Week 2022

Building upon the success of our previous events, Emerge Australia again hosted our ME/CFS Awareness Week virtually in 2022. Virtual events are the most inclusive for our community, and we are grateful that our program of events were enthusiastically embraced making this another successful year.

In 2022, ME/CFS Awareness Week was recognised from Friday 6 May - Thursday 12 May, with International ME/CFS Awareness Day held on the 12 May.

The theme for the week was "Learn from ME, because people living with ME/CFS matter."

Our focus for 2022, was about getting back to basics, sharing important information about ME/CFS through a range of webinars hosted across the week. All webinars aimed to run for a maximum length of 30 minutes, however some did run for 60+ minutes.

All live webinars were recorded, with links available below.

Sign the petition - Because people with ME/CFS matter!

We also launched an important petition as part of our State of the Nation campaign. There is still time to sign the petition! We encourage you to lend your voice to support our push to increase funding for specialised ME/CFS education for Australian based GPs, among other initiatives.

Sign our petition encouraging the newly elected government to invest in ME/CFS over the next five years.

Webinar series:

The Basics of ME/CFS

Prerecorded webinar, released on Saturday 7 May at 2pm (AEST)

Watch the webinar here

Join Emerge Australia's Nurse Educator Kate Herbert as we dive into the basics of ME/CFS, including outdated and current understanding of ME/CFS, the importance of post-exertional malaise (PEM) in diagnosis, and management techniques such as pacing that you can use to manage life with ME/CFS.

This session is designed for those living with ME/CFS who want to revisit the basics of the disease and the foundational principles of management. It is suited to those who are newly diagnosed or those who have lived with ME/CFS for some time but would like to refresh their knowledge.

Q&A with Dr Richard Schloeffel

LIVE webinar hosted on Monday 9 May, 2022 at 1pm (AEST)

Watch the webinar here

Emerge Australia Medical Director Dr Richard Schloeffel OAM will join CEO Anne Wilson to answer all your questions about ME/CFS including ME/CFS symptoms, diagnosis, management, GP education and clinical guidelines.

This session is designed for those living with ME/CFS as well as their carers, friends, and family members. Come along to gain a deeper understanding of ME/CFS and to hear from a leading clinician in the diagnosis and management of ME/CFS.

* Please note. This session cannot provide individualised medical advice. Questions submitted should be general in their nature.

ME/CFS Research Panel

LIVE webinar hosted on Tuesday 10 May, 2022 at 2pm (AEST)

Watch the webinar here

Emerge Australia's Research Manager Michelle Tavoletti was joined by leading Australian researchers, Professor Paul Fisher, Dr Sara Ballouz, Dr Chris Armstrong and Professor Ken Walder to unpack their latest local developments in ME/CFS research, as well as provide an update on the Australia ME/CFS Biobank and Patient Registry.

This session is designed for those living with ME/CFS, carers, family members or friends. Clinicians and health professionals with an interest in ME/CFS are encouraged to watch the recording.

Building your Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM) Toolkit

LIVE webinar hosted on Wednesday 11 May, 2022 at 2pm (AEST)

Watch the webinar here

Join Emerge Australia's Manager of Patient Support and Information Services Laura Allen and Nurse Educator Kate Herbert in an interactive session to support you in building your PEM toolkit! This powerful session pools the collective wisdom of our amazing ME/CFS community to support you to come away with new tools to manage PEM.

This session is designed for those living with ME/CFS or caring for a person with ME/CFS. It will address various levels of severity and provides all attendees with a chance to both share their personal experience and learn from the experience of others.

Have a general question or two for us about ME/CFS Awareness Week?

Get in touch with us here

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