What is lifestyle medicine, and is it possible for physiotherapists to blend and integrate lifestyle medicine into patient care? 

Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that adopts an evidence-based, whole-person approach to prevent and mitigate the impact of chronic disease. 

It is an integrative and collaborative approach used by a variety of practitioners, including doctors, nurses, nutritionists, specialists (such as oncologists and psychiatrists), psychologists, pharmacists, physiotherapists and exercise physiologists who share the desire to improve the overall health and wellbeing of their clients beyond their consulting room walls. 

In lifestyle medicine, the focus moves from symptom management alone towards addressing the biosocial and environmental factors (the social determinants of health) that contribute to the development of chronic disease. 

The average Australian adults lives with one chronic disease—whether that be heart disease, type 2 diabetes, asthma, arthritis, cancer or dementia. 

Adults over the age of 65 manage two or more of these conditions, all of which can significantly impact a person’s quality of life. 

Physiotherapists can very effectively integrate lifestyle medicine. 

They are already deeply involved in areas like physical activity, pain management, rehabilitation and education, making them well-positioned to incorporate lifestyle medicine principles into their practice. 

Lifestyle medicine physician Dr Jenny Brockis will talk about the benefits of incorporating lifestyle medicine approaches into physiotherapy practice in her keynote at APASC25.

What would be the benefits for patients and for physiotherapists? 

A lifestyle medicine approach offers significant benefits for patients with musculoskeletal issues. 

By incorporating healthy lifestyle behaviours based on the six core pillars (healthy nutrition, sufficient physical activity, restorative sleep, strong social connection, time in nature and mind-body practices) physiotherapists can help patients lower stress and metabolic dysfunction, while improving mood and pain management. 

For example, a patient presenting with low back pain benefits from physiotherapy interventions aimed at reducing pain and boosting function. 

But if you know that this person is also living with depression and is on antidepressants, this presents an additional opportunity. 

You can explore what physical activities this person could look to incorporate into their daily activities that would elevate their mood, reduce their symptoms of depression and help them better manage their chronic back pain—while giving them a sense control over their health. 

The benefit for physiotherapists themselves is that by walking the talk and incorporating lifestyle medicine principles into their own lives, studies have found that this reduces the risk of practitioner burnout, stress-related illnesses or mental health challenges. 

A healthier, happier, more fulfilled practitioner is a better practitioner who will help their patients achieve more by being a positive role model. 

You talk about ‘root causes’ and how they impact delayed healing and recurring injuries. Can you elaborate? 

The root causes of chronic disease are underlying biological, environmental and lifestyle factors that disrupt the body’s normal function over time.

These root causes not only contribute to the development of chronic illnesses but also impair healing and increase the risk of recurring injuries. 

Chronic inflammation is the hallmark of many chronic diseases.

Other root causes include oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, insulin resistance, gut issues, toxins, hormonal imbalances and nutrient deficiencies. 

A root-cause approach—sometimes called functional medicine or systems biology—focuses on personalised nutrition, movement and rehab programs, stress management, gut and liver support, sleep optimisation and lab testing for deficiencies and imbalances. 

By correcting the root causes, the body regains its natural ability to heal, adapt and protect against further damage. 

>>Dr Jenny Brockis is a lifestyle medicine physician, workplace health and wellbeing consultant and health coach. She is also the author of five books. Jenny believes that life is too short not to be happy, healthy and fulfilled, so she wants to know ‘What keeps you well?’ 

>>Jenny will present a half-day pre-conference workshop titled ‘Physiotherapy as lifestyle. The changing face of physical therapy’ on Wednesday 22 October at 1:15 pm and a keynote session titled ‘Bridging the gap between physical and mental wellbeing for patients and practitioners’ on Thursday 23 October at 11.55 am.

Click here for more information about APASC25