Strengthening Population Health Perspectives in Physical Therapist Practice Using Epigenetics.

Health starts where we live, learn, work, and play. Population health represents a unifying paradigm for understanding systematic variations in health and related factors, informing integrated action, and reducing health disparities. The pathways connecting social, environmental, and structural factors and various health outcomes have been illuminated by the emergence of epigenetic and epigenomic research, further bolstering the value of population health perspectives in supporting clinical practice, community-based programs, and societal policies. The purpose of this perspective is to consider the placement of epigenetic and epigenomic insights within a population health framework to strengthen the physical therapy profession's understanding of variations in health, inform integrated action, and further justify our role in reducing health-related disparities.