Key takeaways

• Time and reimbursement obstacles make discussions about lifestyle medicine difficult.
• Prerecorded webinars are a practical way to educate patients on the six pillars of lifestyle medicine.

DENVER – The creators of a 7-part webinar series sought to overcome barriers to integrating lifestyle medicine into oncology practice.

“Many of the main barriers you know very, very well – time. In my oncology visits, I have to talk about so many things that are so important, and to find time to talk about lifestyle medicine and worry about the reimbursement, and the next patient is at the door, and to be able to provide adequate care – it provides a tremendous amount of pressure,” Ugne Aleknaite, AGPCNP-BC, WHNP-BC, IFM-CP, said. “How do we provide the medicine that we know will change our patients’ outcomes?” Her group began to think outside the one-on-one clinical encounter.

Here at the Lifestyle Medicine Conference, Aleknaite shared how and why a team at Mass General Brigham Cancer Center Lifestyle Medicine created an evidence-based educational webinar series for patients they were treating.

The series addressed each of the six pillars of lifestyle medicine and included the health care providers and patients. Aleknaite said the burden of creating each webinar was split among various health care providers at the cancer center.

The series addressed common patient questions, provided practical suggestions on topics such as how to reduce stress and mortality, and emphasized the power of social connections. The webinar on nutrition was the most watched.

“Our patients wanted to hear from us … even though this information is available on the internet,” she said. “When Amy Comander, MD, DipABLM, is talking on a webinar, her patients hear it and it lands.”

The practical aspects of the webinar series also landed.

“’Which YMCA can I join?’ ‘What program is available?’ …,” she said, emphasizing the local feel of the webinar series.

“Potentially, we are able to reduce the number of visits and the wait times for patients to access this information,” she said.

“Let’s move together towards the medicine of connection and see how we can deliver [lifestyle medicine] outside the one-on-one clinical encounter.”