Reorienting Allied Health Into Community-Based Care for People Experiencing Trauma and Social Disadvantage

AI Summary

Trauma and social disadvantage increase chronic disease through modifiable risks such as physical inactivity and poor diet.
Access to allied health, especially exercise physiologists, physiotherapists and dietitians, is profoundly inequitable, privileging those with stable resources.
Reorient services: embed allied health in trusted community settings, deliver earlier, trauma informed and responsive to social context.

Med J Aust. 2026 Jul;224(7):e70251. doi: 10.5694/mja2.70251.

ABSTRACT

Trauma and social disadvantage are strongly associated with higher rates of chronic disease, partly driven by modifiable risk factors such as physical inactivity and poor diet. Despite strong evidence supporting exercise and dietary interventions for both physical and mental health, access to allied health professionals-particularly exercise physiologists, physiotherapists and dietitians-remains profoundly inequitable. Current prevention efforts predominantly reach individuals with stable living conditions and sufficient resources, ultimately privileging the privileged and entrenching health disparities. To close these gaps, these workforces must be reoriented: embedded within trusted community settings and delivered earlier in the care pathway, in ways that are trauma-informed and responsive to social context.

PMID:42477506 | DOI:10.5694/mja2.70251

Document this CPD