Aruma’s Preventive Health Strategy 2025-2027

Aruma is committed to upholding the rights of the people we support, including their right to stay healthy and access healthcare services. 

We know that unfortunately people with disability often experience poorer health outcomes. Research tells us that this can include:  

• Substantially higher rates of chronic physical and mental health conditions, as well as multiple co-morbidities. 

• More than twice the rate of avoidable deaths and a lower life expectancy than people in the general population. 

• Under-representation of consultations with GPs addressing physical and preventative health issues. 

• Significantly less likely to be prescribed preventative health medications. 

• Higher prescription of psychotropic medication, even after allowing for elevated incidence of mental illness. 

• Much higher rates of potentially preventable hospitalisation. 

We also know that we are in a position to help change this.  

Aruma’s Preventive Health Strategy 2025-2027 outlines how everyone at Aruma can play a role in supporting our participants to engage in health-promoting behaviours, preventive healthcare, and effectively manage established chronic conditions.

We want to create a culture of health promotion within Aruma and empower our staff and participants to maintain good health through improved health literacy, personal skill development, and effective primary healthcare access. 

This will help us to achieve the Support pillar of Aruma’s new Strategic Plan.  It will also help to advance the Include pillar, by empowering our participants to make informed choices about their health and advocating for more inclusive healthcare.

What is Preventive Health?

Preventive health is doing what we can to ensure we live the healthiest life possible. It includes taking daily steps to stay healthy and identify health problems early on, so they are easier to treat and don’t worsen. 

Examples include everything from eating well and exercising, to going to the dentist for regular check-ups and staying up to date with immunisations.

How will we improve Preventative Health?

The Preventive Health Strategy recognises that there are many factors that impact health. This is called the socioecological model and means our approach will address multiple levels:  

1. Individual level: 

• Teach our participants about health. 
• Help them learn healthy skills. 
• Encourage early health checks and screenings. 
• Support people to manage long-term health conditions.

2. Interpersonal level: 

• Teach Aruma staff about health and encourage them to set positive examples 
• Help staff teach colleagues and participants about health 

3. Organisational level: 

• Make Aruma’s homes, hubs and workplaces healthier 
• Implement the strategy and other policies that support good health. 

4. Community level: 

• Work with doctors, experts and health services to improve services. 
• Partner with community groups to support health. 

5. Public policy level: 

• Speak up for better health policies. 
• Work with researchers to improve health for people with disability. 

Watch this space for more on Aruma’s Preventive Health Strategy 2025-2027.