Prevention through healthy lifestyles

Living a healthy lifestyle can prevent or delay the onset of long-term conditions (LTCs) such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.

A healthy lifestyle will include:

• eating healthy food
• being physically active
• maintaining a healthy weight
• being tobacco free
• looking after mental wellbeing
• limiting alcohol intake
• getting adequate sleep.

Person-centred support

The best way for you to support people to make changes to their lifestyle is to take a partnership approach. This means involving people as equal partners in planning, developing and monitoring their care.

You can offer your patient person-centred care by:

• respecting their culture and values
• taking into account their preferences and what they tell you they need
• coordinating and integrating all aspects of their care
• working with them to make sure there is good communication and they have the information they need
• making sure they are physically comfortable and safe
• providing emotional support
• involving family and friends
• making sure there is continuity between and within services
• making sure people have access to appropriate care when they need it.

The principles of patient-centred care – Picker Institute websiteexternal link

Healthy lifestyle support for people with long-term conditions can include:

• peer support
• self-management education
• health coaching
• group activities
• asset-based approaches (time-banking, microenterprise schemes).

Mental health support

Assessing mental wellbeing and providing mental health support where necessary is also an important part of healthy lifestyle support.

Mental wellbeing

Cultural competence

Healthcare professionals need to have an awareness and understanding of different cultures to be able to provide person-centred care to all.

You should consider the cultural diversity in the community you support and work to develop your competency in these cultures. This will help you to provide more effective and respectful care to people with different cultural backgrounds.

Cultural competency for healthcare providers — Healthifyexternal link

Talking to people about making changes to a more healthy lifestyle can be difficult. But it can be a powerful catalyst for change for some people.

When talking about a healthy lifestyle, you need to consider the persons health literacy. This is their capacity to access, process and understand basic health information and services so they can make informed health decisions.

Three steps to meeting health literacy needs — Health Quality & Safety Commissionexternal link

When starting a conversation about making lifestyle changes:

• be sensitive and empathetic — try to 'walk in their shoes'
• approach the conversation with respect
• ask them how they are doing
• listen — let people talk and let them know you hear them, be open to asking questions and hearing the complete answer before offering an opinion or advice.

Example 1: Starting a conversation about eating well

Follow these steps:

1. Find out what the person knows about eating healthy food and why it is important.

2. Ask them to identify changes they could make to improve their eating patterns.

3. Work together to identify small changes, such as:

• decreasing the frequency or amount of unhealthy fast food or takeaways
• swapping unhealthy snacks for healthy snacks
• slowing the speed of eating down, and really tasting and savouring the food
• noticing when you start to feel full and stop eating when you feel physically full
• drinking water instead of sweetened drinks
• eating more vegetables and fruit.

Eating and Activity Guidelines for New Zealand Adultsexternal link

4. Encourage the person to come up with goals and make a plan for change. 

5. Offer help or support by asking open questions, such as:

• How can I help you make changes to eat more healthy foods?
• What is the hardest thing for you about healthy eating?
• What can I do to support you?

Example 2: Approaching the conversation about healthy weight

Many people are willing to talk about weight issues with healthcare professionals who offer respect and empathise with their challenges managing their weight. You can follow the model below.

5-A Model to framing the conversation about weight

The 5-A Model is commonly used for smoking cessation counselling and can be applied equally well with many other types of behavioural modification, including weight.

1. Ask: Start with their perceptions of their health conditions and body image or goals.
2. Advise: Give them their body mass index number. Explain what it means, and offer specific advice on an initial weight goal.
3. Assess: Assess their goals, willingness to discuss body weight, and interest in addressing it. Goals should be realistic.
4. Assist: Assistance should be person-centred and may include a referral to nutrition counselling, physical activity programs, and follow-up discussions.
5. Arrange: Arrange a follow-up, even if it is only getting the person’s agreement to discuss the topic. This gives the message that you think the issue is important and worth discussing.

You can use these patient-centred tools to help co-design care plans for people with long term conditions who request support with lifestyle change.

Stanford 6 week self-management programme – Healthifyexternal link

Wellbeing – Heart Foundationexternal link

Self-management and self management support — Healthifyexternal link

Healthy eating, active living booklet — HealthEdexternal link