In Australia, up to 75% of individuals will go through a traumatic event, significantly impacting their mental, emotional, social, and physical well-being. This project, led by Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) Physiotherapist and researcher Sam Bunzli, addressed the needs of those who have experienced trauma by developing a specialised trauma informed framework for physiotherapy care.

Trauma is individually defined, occurring from a single or repeated event(s) that may be experienced as physically or emotionally harmful or threatening. This project, within RBWH Physiotherapy, addressed the gap between the needs of trauma survivors and the services available to them. 

During phase one of the project, we surveyed 50 physiotherapists, observed 22 physiotherapist–patient interactions and conducted focus groups involving 14 physiotherapists and identified the factors that influence trauma informed physiotherapy practice. Training resources were developed to strengthen physiotherapists’ knowledge, awareness, confidence, and capacity in trauma-informed care, and recommendations were generated for changes to organisational structures and processes to support effective and sustainable practice. These outcomes were presented to local and national physiotherapists, increasing awareness of trauma-informed care across Australia.
 
In phase two of the project, we plan to translate our framework into a trauma-informed physiotherapy toolkit to guide implementation of trauma-informed care in physiotherapy practice. This world first toolkit will be adaptable for future upscaling into other physiotherapy services, placing RBWH at the forefront of this field. 
 
Ultimately, this research seeks to create a more inclusive and responsive healthcare environment for trauma survivors. By embedding trauma informed care into physiotherapy services, it seeks to enhance access, engagement and outcomes among patients, whilst also increasing the wellbeing and job satisfaction among physiotherapists who are better equipped to support patients experiencing distress.

We are very grateful to the Foundation for their support of this important work, as these findings provide evidence-based guidance for physiotherapy services seeking to implement systematic trauma-informed care approaches that benefit both patient outcomes and physiotherapist wellbeing.