Supporting Whole-Person Health Through Lifestyle Medicine

A GP in Bristol used the approaches and frameworks from Prescribing Lifestyle Medicine (PLM) to establish a lifestyle clinic within their practice, helping patients explore the wider factors shaping their health and wellbeing.

One patient, a 69-year-old woman, had been living with ongoing digestive symptoms, fatigue, poor sleep, stress and low mood despite multiple investigations and treatments.

Using the PLM framework, the GP worked with the patient over five consultations to explore:

• nutrition and gut health 
• sleep and recovery 
• movement and activity 
• stress, grief and emotional wellbeing 
• social connection and purpose 

Together, they developed realistic, personalised lifestyle goals that could be incorporated into the patient’s daily life.

Over time, the patient experienced:

• improved digestive symptoms 
• better sleep 
• reduced urinary symptoms 
• improved mood and energy 
• increased physical activity 
• greater confidence and motivation to manage her health

The GP reflected:

“It has been fascinating to listen to the details of peoples’ lives and I have learnt a great deal about just how much our lifestyles impact on our health and wellbeing.”

‍

‍