Physical Therapy Expertise
Many healthcare providers still subscribe to a traditional version of physical therapy (PT) and what therapists do. Injuries, surgeries, and after-stroke rehabilitation make up the bulk of patient referrals to PT.
Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs are producing well-educated, problem-solving healthcare practitioners, whose scope of practice has changed drastically over the past 20 years. Physical therapists can earn specialty board certifications in 10 specialties recognized by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) including orthopedics, pediatrics, and oncology.
DPTs evaluate movement dysfunction and prescribe a treatment plan to address the body’s imbalances that help patients return to their prior level of function. Whether specialists or not, they are now able to counsel patients regarding the health impacts of diet and nutrition as of 2015.
“As diet and nutrition are key components of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of many conditions managed by physical therapists, it is the role of the physical therapist to evaluate for and provide information on diet and nutritional issues to patients, clients, and the community within the scope of physical therapists’ practice. This includes appropriate referrals to nutrition and dietary medical professionals when the required advice and education lie outside the education level of the physical therapist.”
The therapy profession understands how lifestyle factors can affect overall health and recovery. Diet, sleep, and stress can be addressed during PT sessions in addition to a patient’s physical needs.
Functional And Lifestyle Medicine
“It is now recognized that as we grow older, approximately 20% of our health is determined by the hardwiring of our genes, while the remaining 80% is influenced by the ways our lifestyle choices and our physical and social environment contribute to the expression of our genes.”
Functional medicine is an approach to disease prevention and management based on the root cause and biological processes that result in disease. A patient’s health is assessed considering their lifestyle, diet, environment, social experiences, and relationships.
Functional medicine utilizes more of a collaborative process between provider and patient than traditional Western, or allopathic, medicine. It addresses how the body’s systems relate to each other.
Lifestyle medicine is a growing intervention focused on managing lifestyle changes to deter or decrease acute and chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and more.
Lifestyle medical practitioners teach and guide patients toward healthier habits including engaging in regular exercise, eating a healthy diet, managing stress, and improving sleep. Patients are encouraged to avoid alcohol and quit smoking. All of these lifestyle factors are known to improve quality of life and decrease the risk of lifestyle-causing diseases.
“Epidemiologic, ecologic, and interventional studies have repeatedly indicated that most chronic illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes, are the result of lifestyles fueled by poor nutrition and physical inactivity”.
Physical Therapy’s Role In Lifestyle Change
Functional medicine, lifestyle medicine, and PT are unknowing allies in the fight to improve lifestyle factors that affect and cause chronic health conditions. Chronic health conditions are the leading causes of death and disability and are the main drivers of healthcare costs.
In the current traditional model of patient care, disease is often already present, and it is less effective than if prevention was medicine’s focus. Primary Care, specialists, and other healthcare providers should consider PT referrals for patients for whom they know lifestyle factors are the main cause of their health issues.
It is long past the time for Physical Therapists to step outside their traditionally known roles. They can do more than rehab your surgically repaired body parts or take Grandma for a walk.
Doctors of Physical Therapy are experts in functional movement AND rehabilitation. Therefore, as health needs trend toward more self-efficacy and prevention versus reactionary medicine and treatment, DPTs should be at the forefront of health and wellness.
Lifestyle rehabilitation is the next evolution in healthcare and physical therapy is equipped to lead the way. DPTs are more than qualified to join functional medicine and lifestyle healthcare providers on their mission to change the direction of healthcare for the better.
Accordingly, DPTs should welcome “lifestyle rehab” to their practice since it utilizes their expertise and offers additional benefits to their patients, thus expanding the need for PT. This could be the paradigm shift that the therapy world wants and needs — finally being recognized as the multi-faceted, skilled healthcare professionals that they are.
Plus, PT sessions are often twice weekly whereas most medical providers only see their patients once every three to six months or longer. Who is better to oversee and help improve patients’ movement habits while guiding them toward healthier nutrition and lifestyle choices than DPTs?
In my experience, many patients welcomed information outside of the standard exercise prescriptions that would be helpful for them in the long term. Additionally, primary care providers may advise patients to lose weight or eat healthier, but they are given minimal to no resources to accomplish those goals.
Most people want to feel well and enjoy a better quality of life, but they lack the tools to do so. Physical therapy is a major part of the toolbox.
The Takeaway
Prevention-focused care is a better long-term solution than trying to repair damage caused by poor lifestyle factors. Changing healthcare will require an all-hands-on-deck approach involving multiple providers coaching patients toward healthier choices.
We advise rehab for substance abuse, but little to nothing has been defined in healthcare to aid lifestyle rehabilitation. Massive life change requires skilled support.
It is time to recognize seemingly secondary providers for their health expertise. Those who can offer invaluable education and service for the betterment of all patients like physical therapists do. Healthcare can change but new leaders must emerge and act.
