Facebook Live Panel Moderator Coralie is a highly experienced community advocate with a deep understanding of the challenges associated with models used in practice to help people living with chronic pain. She is the founder of Chronic Pain Australia and is a Community & Consumer Engagement Manager at NSW Health. Coralie believes in collective power and works to address the social determinants of health for improvements in health and wellbeing in communities. |
Jarrod McMaugh
(B. Pharm MPS) President, Chronic Pain Australia
Jarrod has been the President of CPA for over 2 years. He has over 20 years in pharmacy and is a community pharmacy managing partner, PSA project pharmacist, and is on the board of both Harm Reduction Victoria and Hepatitis Victoria. Jarrod has dedicated his career to health consumer advocacy and professional advocacy. As the president of CPA, he is dedicated to improving the lives of people with a lived experience of chronic pain and chronic disease, to reduce stigma from health professionals and the media, and to educate health professionals on the importance of patient autonomy and dignity in making health decisions.
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Akii Ngo Akii recently joined Chronic Pain Australia as executive director. They are a public health nutritionist and health promotion practitioner with 10 years’ experience in advocacy, health policy, and systemic health promotion practice. Akii is also a board director and treasurer of Disability Justice Australia. Akii is deeply passionate about representation and is a fierce advocate for people with chronic pain, chronic illness, and disabilities due to their own lifetime of lived experiences. Akii lives with h-Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Spinal Stenosis, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, Mast Cell Activation, Bilateral Carpal Tunnel, RSI, Neuropathy, Osteoarthritis, Migraines, Interstitial Cystitis, Vulvodynia & Hypersomnia. Akii also deals with gastrointestinal pain related to being born with necrotising enterocolitis and thoracic pain due to a thymectomy. |
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Faces of Pain video participant from Canberra, ACT. Megan lives with Endometriosis, Adenomyosis, Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, and a heart condition caused by her chronic pain. Megan is thankful to be currently treated by a pain specialist who values and respects her but admits that good health professionals are not easy to come by. Megan is grateful to her family, friends, and work colleagues who have been an incredible support network for her. Megan says she is lucky to be able to maintain a full-time job but often feels guilty when her health gets in the way. Her mental health is always at the forefront of her mind and she takes active steps to manage it. Megan hopes that by sharing her story, she can encourage others to share their stories too. |
Faces of Pain video participant from Geelong, VIC. Daniel is the founder of an interdisciplinary health clinic, Proactive Health, and Movement, which he was inspired to create based on his own firsthand experiences of living with chronic pain. After an injury where he broke 8 bones in his right foot and then required hip surgery, he realised that recoveries are not always easy and that navigating the health care landscape as a client can be a difficult, confusing and isolating task for many. Daniel is grateful that firsthand experience has provided him with empathy and compassion that is hard to find in a practitioner and that he now gets to help others living with ongoing pain. While Daniel is no longer living with constant pain and is mainly pain-free, he knows his body has heightened sensitivity to pain, particularly in certain areas and recognises the best thing to do when that happens is to listen to his body, don’t ignore the pain messages and work with, not against his body. |
Kate is a Faces of Pain video participant from Cairns, QLD. Kate is a proud single mother of two daughters and has lived with neuropathic chronic pain for over 10 years. She receives twice yearly nerve block treatments to help manage the pain symptoms. She is a former nurse, turned community pharmacist who recognises her own personal experiences with chronic pain has given her important insights when supporting, educating and communicating with patients who come in seeking analgesia (pain relief). Kate accepts that chronic pain will likely always be a part of her life but is proud of herself for accepting and acknowledging that she can still live a fulfilling and worthwhile life in spite of the pain. |