FREE Live Webinar
Date: Thursday 5 March 2026
Time: 7.30–8.30pm AEDT
As part of Lymphoedema Awareness Month in March, this webinar explores how clinicians can support patient engagement from the very first encounter. Through a case-based discussion and multidisciplinary perspectives, participants will gain practical strategies to reduce overwhelm, build trust, and improve care in complex lymphoedema and chronic oedema cases.
Challenging lymphoedema and chronic oedema cases are rarely just clinical problems. Long-term illness, repeated setbacks, and social stressors profoundly shape how patients engage, often from the very first appointment.
This 60-minute interactive webinar brings together lived experience, psychosocial insight, and neuroscience to explore how clinicians can build trust, reduce overwhelm, and support meaningful engagement from day one.
Using a real-world case of long-standing lower-limb oedema, our expert panel will examine how assumptions form, how stress affects decision-making, and how small, intentional shifts in communication can lead to better outcomes for both patients and clinicians.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Recognise patient experiences of chronic lower‑limb oedema and key factors influencing engagement
- Apply psychosocial insights and curiosity‑based communication to build trust
- Use neuroscience principles to support decision‑making and reduce cognitive overload
- Integrate lived experience, psychosocial, and neuroscience perspectives to plan patient‑centred care from the first appointment
Case Context
Participants will explore engagement strategies through the lens of a complex clinical scenario:
- 55‑year‑old woman
- Severe, long‑standing lower‑limb oedema
- Chronic wounds present for several years
- Progressive weight gain
- Lives alone, unemployed, limited social support
- Long‑term disengagement and health fatigue
The session will consider both:
- Experienced clinician perspectives — recognising bias formed through repeated patterns
- Early‑career clinician perspectives — managing the urge to “fix quickly”
Webinar Program
Speakers
Mary Toomey – Sociologist & Former High-Performance Health Leader
Mary Toomey is a former physiotherapist and high-performance health leader with more than three decades’ experience across hospital care, private practice, and elite sport. After graduating in 1979, she worked extensively in high-performance environments, holding senior roles with organisations including the Melbourne Storm, Netball Australia, and the Queensland Academy of Sport, where she led multidisciplinary health and wellbeing teams supporting elite athletes.
Following a major stroke in 2016, Mary transitioned academically into sociology and is currently undertaking a PhD exploring racism as a social determinant of health for First Nations athletes. Drawing on her clinical, managerial, and lived experience perspectives, her work focuses on the structural and social drivers of health, wellbeing, and equity, with a particular interest in how systems shape outcomes across sport and health settings.
Megan Bayliss – Mental Health Social Work Supervisor & Researcher
Megan Bayliss is a Mental Health–accredited Social Work supervisor, researcher, and PhD candidate specialising in psychoeducation, bibliotherapy, and lived experience scholarship. She brings over 30 years’ experience as a clinical therapist, working across sexual assault services, relational practice, workforce supervision, and community-based social services in rural, remote, and international settings.
A recipient of the prestigious CDUDES scholarship, Megan’s doctoral research explores how readers use popular psychology literature to navigate life-changing experiences, drawing on digital methodologies including online book clubs. She has held senior practice, leadership, and program development roles across health, community, and First Nations contexts, and is committed to knowledge translation that supports wellbeing, reflective practice, and community resilience.
Dr Izelle Labuschagne – Neuroscientist | Research Mentor | Founder, Complete Thesis Support
Dr Izelle Labuschagne completed her PhD in clinical neuroscience at Monash University in 2011 and holds accredited training in psychology from Monash University and Swinburne University of Technology. Her work is grounded in neuroscience, with a particular focus on social cognition and emotion, and how mental health, stress, and ageing influence brain–behaviour relationships. Through Complete Thesis Support, she now works closely with PhD candidates, research students, and early-career researchers, supporting them to navigate the demands of research with clarity, confidence, and sustainability.
Izelle has extensive experience leading human neuroscience and neuropsychopharmacology research, including randomised double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trials involving antidepressants, serotonergic agents, and neuropeptides such as oxytocin. She has worked across academic and industry-sponsored research, with strong expertise in ethics, regulatory processes, and Good Clinical Practice. Today, she integrates this scientific rigour into her mentoring and entrepreneurial work, supporting researchers in navigating complex systems, producing high-quality research, and building sustainable academic or industry careers.
Online Learning Module & Post-Event Access
All registered participants will receive access to an online learning module linked to this webinar.
The online learning module includes:
- An evaluation form to release your CPD certificate
- A recording of the live webinar, available to watch from 7 March
Access to the Online Learning Module
Access details for the online learning module will be emailed to participants once registration is complete.
To register:
- Complete the webinar registration form below and click SUBMIT
- Add the free webinar product to your shopping cart
- Proceed through checkout (the total will display as $0.00)
- Log in or create an LES account to finalise registration
Once your order is confirmed, you will receive an email with access details. Access will also be available via your LES account dashboard.
Registration
After completing the form below, you will be automatically directed to a purchase page. Please add the free webinar to your cart and complete the $0 transaction. This step ensures you receive immediate access to the course.
Once you click SUBMIT, you should be directed to a purchase page so you can add the free webinar to your cart and complete the $0 transaction. If you don’t get directed automatically, please check your registration confirmation email for the link.
Lymphoedema Education Solutions is grateful to Arjo, Essity and Haddenham Healthcare for supporting this learning opportunity.
