"The Tip of the Iceberg": Commentary on Sports, Health Inequity, and Trauma Exacerbated by COVID-19.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To discuss the relevance of system-level health inequities and their interplay with race in sports and athletic training, particularly during and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. BACKGROUND: Health inequity is a systemic and longstanding concern with dire consequences that can have marked effects on the lives of minority patients. As a result of the unequal consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the magnitude of the outcomes from health inequity in all spheres of American health care is being brought to the fore. The discourse within athletic training practice and policy must shift to intentionally creating strategies that acknowledge and account for systemic health inequities in order to facilitate an informed, evidence-based, and safe return to sport within the new normal. CONCLUSIONS: To continue to evolve the profession and solidify athletic trainers' role in public health spaces post-COVID-19, professionals at all levels of athletic training practice and policy must intentionally create strategies that acknowledge and account for not only the social determinants of health but also the effects of racism and childhood trauma on overall health and well-being.