Stress and anxiety, uncertainty and isolation. Can you think of a period when an individual’s mental health and wellbeing has ever been as consequential as it has been in these most recent, trying times?

With the fires and floods of 2020 and, of course, the pandemic continuing into this year, the mental health of all Australians has been well and truly tested. In my mind, this has thrust the spotlight on a person-centred approach to each and every person’s overall care across all clinical settings.

Although mental health care has progressed significantly over the years, and the $2.3 billion invested through the recent federal Budget is a welcomed and substantial boost to mental health services, as we have stated publicly, more transformational change is needed—this sector requires reform to go hand-in-hand with the funding.

We know that mental health care can be complex and challenging.

We also know that physiotherapists have an important role to play in achieving better outcomes through a personalised and coordinated approach.

That’s why in the lead up to the Budget, the APA called for greater support of integrated and collaborative models of care that include physiotherapists as members of a multidisciplinary team structure for the management of mental health and wellbeing.

Expansion of such a team-based approach would only strengthen the diversity of skills and expertise for the ultimate benefit of individuals with mental health issues.

Untreated or inappropriately treated pain is a factor in mental ill-health.

Given the established relationship between physical health and mental wellbeing, we consider physiotherapists to be crucial in helping to alleviate the significant burdens imposed by mental illness and chronic pain on individuals and the healthcare system.

That physiotherapy can help in the management of pain, improve mobility and function and enhance quality of life should be properly recognised and incorporated into mental health strategies.

As we have advocated, it therefore makes sense to invest in the education of stakeholders within the sector in order to raise an understanding of the important role of physiotherapists in identifying, assessing and treating the many physical illnesses and painful conditions that exacerbate mental health issues.

After all, physiotherapists already possess the requisite skills and knowledge to be invaluable contributors in a multidisciplinary mental health care setting.

Apart from managing the physical symptoms, you address the social and occupational aspects of a person’s life, understand the value of health literacy through, for example, promoting physical activity and addressing sedentary behaviours, and appreciate the importance of effective collaboration and communication.

Patients and clients often confide in their health practitioner, so physiotherapists would likely come across some form of mental ill-health in the stories of their patients, who are often seeking help for their physical and mental health problems at the same time.

It is, however, just as important for physiotherapists to attend to their own mental, emotional and physical health.

Self-care is a deliberate and ongoing process that can involve, for example, practising self-compassion, regularly exercising, taking time out, building relationships, recognising the signs of stress or anxiety and acting on them, opening up to a trusted person, and seeking help from a qualified professional.

APA staff have become familiar with this self-care message throughout this prolonged period of disruption and upheaval to our personal and professional lives.

It equally applies to each of you, as members of our APA community.

Every person has a body and a mind, and now is the time to be open about the impacts of mental health on the wellbeing and recovery of patients and clients, and on ourselves. Take care.