Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-669899f699-b58lm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-03T23:45:27.576Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 21 - Taking a Lifestyle History

from Section 4 - Clinical Skills in Lifestyle Medicine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2025

By
Ellen Fallows  and
Niamh Louwman
Edited by
Richard Pinder ,
Christopher-James Harvey  and
Ellen Fallows
Richard Pinder
Affiliation:
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London
Christopher-James Harvey
Affiliation:
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London
Ellen Fallows
Affiliation:
British Society of Lifestyle Medicine
Get access

Summary

A person-centred approach is central to effective lifestyle discussions, avoiding stigma and blame that can undermine patient motivation and self-efficacy. This involves shifting from a clinician-led model to collaborative consultations that respect patient values and goals, and fosters a partnership between the clinician and the patient. Compassionate care is essential for this approach. To prepare for consultations, health professionals must consider factors such as language, accessibility, and reception staff attitude that can influence the patient’s perception of person-centred care. Health professionals should use open-ended questions and active listening to gather a comprehensive lifestyle history that aligns with patient values and preferences. They should also understand patient concerns and expectations, and use them to build rapport and develop shared treatment goals. Moreover, health professionals must assess relationships and support systems that can significantly impact health outcomes, and explore positive mental states and life satisfaction to assess mental wellbeing comprehensively. By establishing a therapeutic relationship through compassionate history taking, health professionals can lay the foundations for effective behaviour change interventions.

Keywords

Lifestyle MedicineCompassionate careBehaviour changeClinical consultationPatient-centred approachChronic diseasesTherapeutic relationshipStigma and blameHealth goalsReflective practice
Type
Chapter
Information
Essential Lifestyle Medicine , pp. 229 - 241
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Beverly, E. A., Ritholz, M. D., Brooks, K. M., et al., A qualitative study of perceived responsibility and self-blame in type 2 diabetes: Reflections of physicians and patients. J Gen Intern Med. 2012;27:1180–1187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-012-2070-0Westbrook.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Block, K. I., Dafter, R. and Greenwald, H. P., Cancer, the mind, and the problem of self-blame. Integr Cancer Ther. 2006;5(2):123–130.Google ScholarPubMed
Mary, T. and Lena, A. N., Reactions to patients’ self‐or chance‐blaming attributions for illnesses having varying life‐style involvement. J Appl Soc Psychol. 1986;16(5):428–446.Google Scholar
Brewis, A. and Wutich, A., Why we should never do it: Stigma as a behaviour change tool in global health. BMJ Global Health. 2019;4(5):e001911.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hiscock, R., Bauld, L., Amos, A. and Platt, S., Smoking and socioeconomic status in England: The rise of the never smoker and the disadvantaged smoker. J Public Health. August 2012;34(3):390–396. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fds012.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Puhl, R. M. and Heuer, C. A., Obesity stigma: Important considerations for public health. Am J Public Health. 2010;100(6):1019–1028.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duarte, C., Matos, M., Stubbs, R. J. et al., The impact of shame, self-criticism and social rank on eating behaviours in overweight and obese women participating in a weight management programme. PloS One. 2017;12(1):e0167571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peters, G.-J. Y., Ruiter, R. A. C. and Kok, G., Threatening communication: A critical re-analysis and a revised meta-analytic test of fear appeal theory. Health Psychol Rev. 2013;7(suppl 1):S8–S31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole-King, A. and Gilbert, P., Compassionate care: The theory and the reality. J Holistic Healthcare. 2011;8:29–37.Google Scholar
Larson, E. B. and Yao, X., Clinical empathy as emotional labor in the patient – physician relationship. JAMA. 2005;293:1100–1106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Tov, W., et al., New well-being measures: Short scales to assess flourishing and positive and negative feelings. Soc Indicators Res. 2010;97:143–156.Google Scholar
Herdman, M., Gudex, C., Lloyd, A., et al., Development and preliminary testing of the new five-level version of EQ-5D (EQ-5D-5L). Qual Life Res. 2011;20:1727–1736.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Butler, J. and Kern, M. L., The PERMA-profiler: A brief multidimensional measure of flourishing. Int J Wellbeing. 2016;6(3):1–48.Google Scholar
Stewart-Brown, S., Tennant, A., Tennant, R., et al., Internal construct validity of the Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale (WEMWBS): A Rasch analysis using data from the Scottish health education population survey. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2009;7(1):15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pontzer, H., Durazo-Arvizu, R., Dugas, L. R., et al., Constrained total energy expenditure and metabolic adaptation to physical activity in adult humans. Curr Biol. 8 February 2016;26(3):410–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.046.Google ScholarPubMed
Keaulana, S., Kahili-Heede, M., Riley, L., et al., A scoping review of nature, land, and environmental connectedness and relatedness. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(11):5897. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115897.Google ScholarPubMed
Richardson, M., Hunt, A., Hinds, J., et al., A measure of nature connectedness for children and adults: Validation, performance, and insights. Sustainability. 2019;11(12):3250. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123250.Google Scholar
Whatnall, M., Clarke, E., Collins, C. E., et al., Ultra-processed food intakes associated with food addiction in young adults. Appetite. 2022;178:106260.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×