Born in 1880, Elizabeth Kenny was an unaccredited Australian nurse who challenged conventional treatment for polio, with a pioneering muscle rehabilitation program that transformed global healthcare.

Breaking traditional models of patient care for polio sufferers during World War I and II, Kenny challenged the treatment of the time, which focused on immobilisation, and instead introduced a new treatment plan promoting muscle movement and exercise. Her innovative approach formed the basis of muscle rehabilitation, and physical therapy (physiotherapy), as we know it today.

Born in 1880, Elizabeth Kenny was an unaccredited Australian nurse who challenged conventional treatment for polio, with a pioneering muscle rehabilitation program that transformed global healthcare.

Breaking traditional models of patient care for polio sufferers during World War I and II, Kenny challenged the treatment of the time, which focused on immobilisation, and instead introduced a new treatment plan promoting muscle movement and exercise. Her innovative approach formed the basis of muscle rehabilitation, and physical therapy (physiotherapy), as we know it today.