Trauma-Aware, Healing-Informed Approaches to Health Promotion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: A Narrative Review.

Abstract

Oppression and violence associated with colonisation have contributed to intergenerational trauma and health inequities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Health promotion can help reduce inequities by strengthening connections that support social and emotional wellbeing and enable conditions for communities to lead healthy lives. While culturally responsive health promotion strategies exist, it is unknown the extent to which these account for trauma. We conducted a narrative review to examine the intersection of evidence describing social and emotional wellbeing, trauma and health promotion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Literature was identified between April 2025 and June 2025, with an update performed in July 2026, through iterative searches of Google Scholar, Medline and HealthInfoNet, supplemented by citation tracking of key publications and relevant grey literature. Sources were selected based on relevance to the review aim, with the scope iteratively broadened from trauma-informed approaches within Indigenous health promotion internationally to include trauma-informed approaches in health promotion more broadly and health promotion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Limited guidance was identified on how to apply trauma-aware, healing-informed approaches within health promotion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. While frameworks exist in trauma-informed care and health promotion separately, limited evidence of the integration of these two concepts was found. Where integration occurs, the guidance found was largely conceptual and lacks detail for implementation. Recognising the influence that trauma can have on health behaviours and applying trauma-aware, healing-informed principles may strengthen the safety, relevance and effectiveness of health promotion initiatives for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. SO WHAT?: Continuing to apply health promotion strategies without accounting for the social, historical and cultural impacts of colonisation and trauma may risk disengagement or unintended harm. A trauma-aware, healing-informed approach builds on existing culturally responsive, strengths-based and community-controlled health promotion by making explicit how trauma shapes health behaviours, which helps create the conditions for healing. This review provides the evidence and conceptual rationale for the development of a community-led framework to guide the design, implementation and evaluation of trauma-aware, healing-informed health promotion for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.