Lifestyle medicine

Dr Zuzana Wheeler discusses lifestyle medicine, what it is and if it has a place in our fifteen-minute consultations.

Topics

Intro
Play now
Tell us more about the discipline of lifestyle medicine.
Play now
Principles behind the “Pillars of health” models.
Play now
Bridging the gap between health promotion and clinical practice.
Play now
Can these principles be integrated into a 15minute consult.
Play now
Evidence base for lifestyle medicine
Play now
Lifestyle as medicine has the potential to prevent up to 80% of chronic disease.
Play now
How do we find out more?
Play now
Fellowship in lifestyle medicine.
Play now
Take-home messages.
Play now

Take home messages

Introduce the link between lifestyle and chronic disease at every opportunity.
Assessment and management of lifestyle-related chronic disease is best achieved in a systematic way.
Aim to achieve long term sustainable behaviour change - this will require multiple visits.

Resources

Lifestyle medicine definitions - Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine
British Society of lifestyle medicine - website
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine - website

Patient Resources

Presenter

Dr Zuzana Wheeler

General Practitioner & Lifestyle Medicine Physician

Zuzana is originally from Slovakia but has called Aotearoa her home for almost 20 years. She graduated in medicine from the University of Otago in 2009. Since then she has continuously practiced in NZ and Australia.
Initially, she trained in psychiatry but left the field because she was finding that it was too focused on pharmacological management, with little emphasis and time for the “whole-person” and their environment. She switched to general practice, as she believed that as a GP she was better positioned to deliver more preventative and holistic care. During this time she developed a passion for treating lifestyle related chronic disease.
She is an International Board Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician and opened her own lifestyle medicine clinic, ZIVIO HEALTH, in Dunedin in February 2021. She is now solely focusing on preventing, treating and reversing chronic disease and promoting wellbeing.