Dr Heidi Janssen has spent more than 20 years in the medical field working with people living with stroke. For the last 15 years, she has been working in the research field to better understand how stroke survivors can best recover, and it all started with a scholarship from the Mineworkers’ Trust.
Heidi grew up in Glendon Brook, her father Matt was a linesman and a coal miner, and her mother Bev worked as a pharmacy assistant in Singleton.
“I went to school at St Catherines College and was fortunate in Year 12 to be awarded a scholarship from the Mineworkers’ Trust. These scholarships were specifically available for family members of the Mining & Energy Union embarking on a university degree.”
“It was a huge help for me. After one year of a Biomedical Science degree at the University of Newcastle, I enrolled in a Bachelor of Physiotherapy at Charles Sturt University in Albury. This degree gave preference to rural and regional students to encourage them to complete their degree and then return to work in their regional community.
“I finished my degree, and I’ve worked in the Hunter region helping stroke survivors ever since.
“I have been employed as a Hunter New England Local Health District Physiotherapist working with people living with stroke for over 20 years. During that time, I have also completed my Masters and PhD and am now leading my own research program within the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) Heart and Stroke Program.
The ESTEEM program is a group-based program designed to help stroke survivors recover after stroke. ESTEEM is based on research evidence that recovery and quality of life after a stroke, or a brain injury can be improved by participating in a combination of exercise, socialising and creativity using a combination of physical, cognitive and social activity that can support the brain to rewire after stroke.
“How I like to explain it is, think about a preschool or a childcare centre. You walk in, there’s lots to see and do, lots of physical activity, children playing, laughing, learning and having fun socialising, being creative and exploring their environment.
“These places are like this because we understand how valuable growing up in such environments is for developing the brain. Children’s schools and even hospital wards to a lesser degree are like this as well. These environments are considered engaging or stimulating for the brain; health scientists would describe them as ‘enriched environments’.
“If we think about comparable environments for aging adults or adult patients such places of learning and recovery look very different. Their environments are often non-stimulating, non-engaging or boring – non enriching.
“Engaging in regular exercise, staying socially connected to family and friends and challenging the brain with new and creative activities are all known to be important to remain cognitively healthy.
“The ESTEEM Program is tapping into similar principles but in this instance, for the benefit of helping someone’s brain be more receptive to the rehabilitation therapy needed to regain independence after a stroke,” Dr Heidi explained.
ESTEEM has been running at West Wallsend and Kurri Kurri for a couple of years now with sessions twice a week for 10 weeks. The program has been supported by a generous HMRI donor in a Women in Medical Research Fellowship and was designed through consultation with health professionals, people with lived experience as well as experienced dancers and artists.
“ESTEEM is being evaluated in a research study which people who have had a stroke can consent to participate in and attend in a community setting. Importantly people who participate are with other people who have had a stroke so they can share their experiences.”
Heidi said that evaluation to date has indicated people love coming and the staff from the non-government (NGO) agencies love delivering it.
Stroke survivors who have attended are getting better balance, are fitter, becoming more confident in their abilities and most markedly their mood improves.
“Our brain ‘lights up’ when you do something you haven’t done before, when learning something new and fun. We are also observing that people are starting to get a sense of sense again; this shift towards greater self-efficiency helps grow their self-worth and builds hope for their new and sometimes uncertain future after stroke.
“Stroke rehabilitation can sometimes be very deficit focused; concentrating on what one can’t do and what one needs to re-learn in order to recover, rather than celebrating what one can still do and or learn to do. This environment may not only likely re-wire the brain, but likely helps build people’s confidence around what they can do”.
Heidi and her research team are embarking on a Medical Research Future Fund sponsored trial of the ESTEEM program to properly evaluate it and the effectiveness of the program on participants.
An important aim of the ESTEEM After Stroke Project is to ensure that if found to assist stroke recovery, this program can remain available in regional communities well after the research funding has ceased.
“Our vision is that people living with stroke in regional communities now and well into the future, will be able to continue to access the ESTEEM Program ongoing after the research ends.”
| To get involved: Email: ESTEEMAfterStroke@newcastle.edu.au Connect with our socials on: ESTEEMAfterStroke Facebook page or @esteem_stroke Phone 0436 307 646 |
Applications for the 2025 Mineworkers’ Trust Scholarship awards are now open.
Every year, Mining and Energy Union members, their families and dependents can apply for scholarships to assist with expenses for further education. The scholarships have helped put hundreds of students from mining and energy families like Heidi through universities and other higher education institutions over the years, supporting them to attain their educational goals in fields as diverse as radiation science, speech pathology, early childhood education, neuroscience and physiotherapy.
It’s an investment that will deliver benefits for decades to come. You are eligible to apply if you are a MEU mining or energy worker, family member or dependent and you are undertaking or applying to undertake a course at Diploma Level or higher at TAFE or a public university in 2025.
Applications for this year must be received no later than Friday 7th February 2025. https://meu.org.au/applications-open-for-2025-mineworkers-trust-scholarship-awards/
