Allied Health Services Explained: How They Can Support Your Health
Whether you’re experiencing persistent pain, mental health difficulties, hearing problems or just want to optimise your health, sometimes it can be hard to know where to turn. Many of the issues we experience don’t have simple solutions, and generally require specialised support from health care professionals.
Allied health plays an important role in supporting people to manage their symptoms and stay well, including recovering from injury and keeping you healthier in the long-term. Allied health professionals at Narangba Station Medical Centre work together with your GP to deliver hands-on care for various health issues.
You can make an appointment to see one of our dedicated allied health professionals here at Narangba Station Medical Centre if you’re currently experiencing symptoms you’d like help with or want expert advice to improve your health.
Our team will work with you to ensure you get the right combination of care for your needs and goals. This can include visiting a physiotherapist for persistent pain, meeting with a psychologist to improve your mental health, seeing our podiatrist for foot complaints or accessing our hearing and nutrition services. Allied health offers additional support for many different health concerns, allowing you to reach and maintain your best health.
In this guide, we’ll explain what allied health services are, how they support different aspects of your health, and the types of allied health care available at our clinic in Narangba.
Table of Contents
Allied health refers to a range of health professionals who can provide specialised care to support your health and wellbeing. Allied health professionals support people to prevent illness, manage existing conditions, recover from injury, and enhance quality of life. They are different from doctors and nurses, but they’re an important part of the healthcare team. Allied health care may include physiotherapy, psychology, podiatry, audiology or hearing care, nutrition support or other specialist therapies that target specific areas of the body.
Allied health professionals often work alongside your GP as part of a coordinated team approach to your care. If you have a health concern your GP might suggest you receive support from an allied health professional. For example, if you’re experiencing chronic pain your GP may work with a physiotherapist to provide care. If you’re having balance issues, notice changes to your hearing or have painful feet your GP may refer you to see a Podiatrist.
You may also access allied health care if you need help keeping your body healthy or strong, or if you want support to improve your mental health and wellbeing. Working together with your GP, allied health professionals can help build a more complete picture of your health. They can help address the cause of any symptoms you’re experiencing and advise you on the next steps for your recovery.
Allied health care can be beneficial at many different points along your health journey. Services can help you manage current conditions, recover from injury or illness, build strength and mobility, improve your nutrition and lifestyle habits, and take care of your long-term health. Allied health care often focuses on practical ways to keep you healthy and active in your day-to-day life, rather than just treating symptoms.
Our allied health services at Narangba Station Medical Centre are here to help you. Allied health professionals work hand in hand with our GPs to deliver collaborative, patient-focused care. This means we get to know you and what's going on with your health, so we can tailor your treatment to help you manage your recovery and ongoing health.
We offer a number of allied health services under one roof so you can receive care from multiple allied health professionals at Narangba Station Medical Centre:
Physiotherapy in Narangba
Physiotherapy can help you move comfortably and stay active every day. If you’re struggling with nagging pain, rehabilitating an injury or wanting to improve your strength and mobility, physiotherapy aims to determine the cause of your pain and help your body heal itself.
In our practice at Narangba Station Medical Centre, physiotherapy can help treat your injuries and manage pain associated with many different conditions. Back pain and neck pain are two of the most common reasons people see a physiotherapist, but we can also help with joint stiffness, muscle strains and pain related to injuries at work or while exercising. Physiotherapy generally consists of some hands-on treatment, prescribed exercises and helpful tips to decrease pain and dysfunction.
Physiotherapy can also be used to help you recover from an injury or surgery and regain mobility. If you’ve had an injury that required time off work or a lengthy period of inactivity, a tailored rehabilitation program can help restore strength and flexibility to your muscles and decrease your risk of re-injury. Active adults also benefit from physiotherapy when rehabilitation from sports injuries is required, or when they want to improve the way their body moves.
Our physiotherapist, Stuart McClymont, will always discuss your symptoms, exercise habits and goals prior to devising a treatment program tailored to your needs. By helping you overcome the cause of your pain and dysfunction, physiotherapy can help you feel confident moving your body the way you want to again.
Psychology Services
Taking care of your mental health is important. Psychology services allow you to talk to someone in a safe and confidential environment. Working through issues with a psychologist can help you understand your thoughts and feelings. It can also help you learn useful strategies that can assist you in enhancing your mental health.
Whether you are feeling stressed out, anxious, or just down in the dumps, you may want to reach out to a psychologist. Sometimes life, work stress, relationship problems, or chronic health issues can become too much to handle and you need someone to talk to who can help you sort things out. In psychology, the goal is to understand what is going on for you and offer helpful ways to cope with what you are experiencing.
There are many evidence-based treatment strategies that psychologists can provide to help you build resilience and learn healthier thinking and coping skills. This could look like learning ways to better manage anxiety, feeling more in control of your emotions, improving your communication skills, or learning how to better cope with life changes.
Psychology can be helpful for anyone who is feeling they could use some extra support or someone who is struggling with a particular issue. Learning how to cope with daily stressors can equip you with tools to feel more grounded and confident in your life.
Podiatry Care
Podiatry is an allied health profession dedicated to treating the foot, ankle and lower limb. After all, our feet are what carry us throughout our lives. Problems with our feet (pain, stiffness or injury) can impact how you move, stand and feel.
Podiatry services offered at Narangba Station Medical Centre treat many conditions affecting your feet and ankles. This includes sporting injuries, overuse injuries and problems with the structure of your feet such as bunions or flat feet. Podiatry can also provide specialist care for those with diabetes or circulation problems.
In your appointment with podiatrist Dr Diana Chapoterera, you can expect an evaluation of the condition of your feet and ankles. Dr Diana will advise you about exercises you can do at home, and if necessary recommend insoles or special footwear to help with your condition. She’ll work with you to treat the root cause of your symptoms and help keep your feet healthy for longer.
Podiatry often works closely with your GP and other allied health professionals to help you stay active, reduce pain and keep your lower limbs in tip-top shape. Regular podiatry check-ups can help you stay active and prevent problems before they become serious.
Nutrition Services
Food is medicine. And good nutrition is foundational to your health and well-being. It powers you through your day, supports your immune system and can help manage many chronic conditions.
Here at Narangba Station Medical Centre, we believe nutrition advice shouldn’t come from a one-size-fits-all diet book. You deserve advice that works with your lifestyle, meets your health goals and takes into account your medical needs.
Our experienced nutritionist, Deborah Smart, can help whether you want to manage a chronic condition such as diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol, lose weight or maintain a healthy weight safely or simply improve your everyday diet. Deborah will work with you to make simple, realistic changes to your diet, provide practical meal-planning tips, and help you reach your goals in a way that is sustainable for your lifestyle.
Sometimes improving your nutrition can also support other areas of your health. Maybe you are recovering from injury and want to speed up your recovery time, boost your energy levels or improve your gut health. Our experienced team can help you achieve these goals faster with the right nutrition.
Audiology Services
Audiology services focus on your hearing health. At Narangba Station Medical Centre, our audiology services start with a hearing test. A hearing test measures how well you hear sounds at different pitches and volumes, and can detect early indicators of hearing loss.
Hearing loss can occur slowly over time and you may not even realise your hearing is impaired. This can impact your day-to-day communication and ability to socialise, as well as your brain health. Vidya Rajeev provides ongoing monitoring of your hearing health as part of our audiology services at Narangba Station Medical Centre.
This includes testing for age-related hearing loss, impacts of chronic ear infections and monitoring any changes in hearing over time or after exposure to loud noises. Our audiologist can also provide tips to keeping your hearing healthy. This includes safe listening tips, how to clean your ears and when you should seek help.
Vestibular Testing
Balance is something that many people take for granted but experiencing dizziness, vertigo or just feeling off-balance can be very distressing and impact on your day-to-day life. Vestibular testing allows us to examine your inner ear and balance organs to see why you are experiencing dizziness or imbalance.
Balance dysfunction can be caused by benign positional vertigo, vestibular neuritis or degeneration with age. Once we have properly evaluated your vestibular system, we can pinpoint the cause of your balance dysfunction and treat you with appropriate vestibular rehabilitation. This may include balance retraining exercises, modification of your activities or referral to other allied health professionals for further management. Treatment will allow you to reduce your chance of falling, feel less anxious about dizziness and have more confidence with your daily activities.
Hearing Aids
If you have hearing loss, hearing aids are likely your best option to restore your hearing and quality of life. Hearing aids are calibrated to each patient depending on their specific hearing loss, lifestyle needs and comfort level.
There's more to hearing aids than just fitting you with a device. Your audiologist will teach you how to use your hearing aids, how to maintain and keep them clean, how to adjust the volume for different settings and provide you with follow-up care to monitor your hearing.
By managing your hearing loss with hearing aids, you can regain your connection to the world around you. They'll help you communicate more effectively at work and at home and eliminate the mental fatigue associated with hearing loss.
One great advantage of allied health care is that allied health practitioners frequently work alongside your GP. Your doctor is there to monitor your overall well-being and medical history, while allied health can offer specific support and expertise in one area. Whether that be movement, mental health, hearing, nutrition or the feet.
Combined, they form a holistic and streamlined approach to your health care. Your GP may also set you up with a Chronic Pain Management Plan. These plans are designed for those living with ongoing health conditions who may also require support from allied health services.
If you have a management plan, Medicare will subsidise a set number of allied health appointments per calendar year. Services like physio, podiatry or psychology can seem costly, so it’s good to know there are options to help these services become more affordable.
Having your doctor and allied health care professionals work together means they can create a care plan for your specific needs. One that not only helps treat your current condition but also assists with your long-term care and well-being.
Many people aren’t sure which health professional they should see when new symptoms appear. Allied health providers each focus on specific areas of health, helping patients manage symptoms, recover from injuries, and improve everyday well-being.
Here are some common situations where an allied health professional may be able to help:
| Health Concern | Allied Health Professional | How They Support You |
|---|---|---|
| Ongoing Back, Neck or Joint Pain | Physiotherapist | Improves mobility, strength, and movement patterns to reduce pain and prevent further injury. |
| Recovering from Injury or Surgery | Physiotherapist | Guides rehabilitation and helps you safely return to daily activities. |
| Hearing Changes or Balance Issues | Audiologist | Conducts hearing tests, vestibular assessments, and provides hearing aid support. |
| Stress, Anxiety or Emotional Challenges | Psychologist | Provides evidence-based strategies to support mental well-being. |
| Foot Pain, Walking Discomfort or Nail Problems | Podiatrist | Assesses foot health, biomechanics, and treats common foot conditions. |
| Nutrition Concerns or Diet Support | Nutritionist | Provides personalised dietary advice to support health goals. |
Maintaining your health can sometimes require more than one visit to the doctor. If you’re dealing with chronic pain, recovering from an injury, wanting to improve your diet or need support for your mental health, our team of allied health professionals can help.
Based at Narangba Station Medical Centre, our team provides collaborative, patient-focused care. We’re here to provide solutions that you can put into action to help you feel better and stay healthy in the long run.
To get more information about your healthcare options or to make an appointment with us, give us a call today.
Contact & Bookings
To make an appointment, please call reception or use our online booking system via the button below. You can also visit our contact page to see further details about our location and directions.
Bookings are available from as early as 7AM on weekdays and Saturday. We are also open Sunday afternoon and late evening on Tuesday and Thursday until 8:30PM.Â
Can't find us? - We are situated across the road from Narangba Train Station next to the Narangba Village shopping complex. Look for signs for Narangba Health Centre and IGA.
Dr. Madhu Lakshmaiah
Dr Madhu Lakshmaiah is a highly qualified and dedicated general practitioner at Narangba Station Medical Centre with over two decades of experience across various health systems. He graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College in India in 2002, and is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.