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Key research themes
1. How can healthcare system interventions optimize sustainable lifestyle modifications in patients with chronic diseases?
This research theme focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of healthcare delivery models, programs, and counseling techniques dedicated to facilitating and sustaining lifestyle modifications among patients with chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and hypertension. It emphasizes overcoming barriers clinicians face in lifestyle medicine integration—including time constraints, lack of skills, and insufficient referral pathways—and evaluates patient-centered behavior change approaches to promote adherence and improve health outcomes.
Key finding: The paper presents the protocol for the LOFIT study, which implements a dedicated Lifestyle Front Office (LFO) within secondary and tertiary care for patients with cardiovascular and musculoskeletal disorders with BMI ≥25 or... Read more
Key finding: This randomized controlled trial found that motivational interviewing (MI)—a patient-centered, goal-directed counseling technique—significantly improved lifestyle modification adherence and blood pressure control among... Read more
Key finding: This 12-week quasi-experimental study demonstrated that a comprehensive lifestyle intervention encompassing balanced diet, physical activity, stress management, and reduced tobacco/alcohol use significantly decreased systolic... Read more
Key finding: The mixed-methods process evaluation revealed that EuroFIT successfully recruited and engaged men via football clubs by leveraging group dynamics, behavior change techniques, and coach support. Participants increased physical... Read more
2. What role does personalized digital and behavioral coaching play in supporting lifestyle modifications for health improvement?
This theme explores the design principles, user acceptance, and effectiveness of virtual coaching systems, mobile eHealth applications, and behavior change support technologies that enable personalized guidance for lifestyle improvements such as physical activity, nutrition, and psychological well-being. Research focuses on overcoming usability challenges, improving trustworthiness, and addressing motivational barriers through technologically mediated interventions that integrate real-time data and behavioral science to support sustainable health behavior change.
Key finding: The study presents design guidelines for personalized virtual coaching systems derived from two user studies targeting diabetes patients, office workers, and adolescents. It establishes that usability, credibility of... Read more
3. How can educational narratives including evolutionary and psychosocial frameworks enhance motivation for lifestyle modification?
This research area investigates innovative patient education strategies that utilize broader explanatory models like evolutionary mismatch narratives and psychodynamic psychological frameworks to improve patients’ understanding, motivation, and adherence to lifestyle behavior changes. These approaches aim to address deeper cognitive and emotional processes influencing health behaviors, potentially enhancing health literacy, resilience, and quality of life beyond conventional mechanistic explanations.
Key finding: The paper hypothesizes that integrating an evolutionary mismatch narrative into patient education can improve health literacy and promote adherence by explaining the ultimate 'why' behind lifestyle recommendations for... Read more
Key finding: This qualitative research demonstrates a proportional relationship between psychological maturity—evaluated through psychodynamic principles—and quality of life in individuals. It argues that lifestyle interventions benefit... Read more
4. What are the effects of lifestyle interventions on specific health conditions, including cancer risk, obesity, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)?
This theme synthesizes findings from clinical and experimental studies evaluating the impact of targeted lifestyle modification programs—such as dietary change, physical activity, supplementation, and psychological support—on disease risk factors, symptom management, and biomarker outcomes in conditions like breast cancer, obesity, and PCOS. These studies emphasize the importance of timing, personalized approaches, and multi-component interventions to optimize health improvements.
Key finding: Multiple studies highlight that diet and exercise interventions can reduce breast cancer risk, with efficacy influenced by factors such as intervention timing (e.g., puberty versus adulthood), molecular cancer subtype, and... Read more
Key finding: This quasi-experimental study in young women with PCOS demonstrated that a multi-interventional strategy combining cinnamon supplementation, structured exercise, and anxiety reduction counseling resulted in statistically... Read more
Key finding: The review underlines that despite the efficacy of novel incretin-based anti-obesity medications (e.g., semaglutide, tirzepatide), lifestyle modification—including moderate caloric restriction and physical activity—is... Read more
Key finding: In a 6-week behavioral intervention study targeting women, significant reductions were achieved in food cravings and maladaptive eating behaviors, accompanied by improvements in anthropometric and biochemical markers... Read more
5. How do psychological factors such as self-motivation and emotional resilience influence lifestyle modification and self-management in elderly patients with multimorbidity?
This theme examines the qualitative and phenomenological evidence on the psychological determinants fundamental to successful lifestyle change and disease self-management in older adults with multiple chronic conditions. It highlights how cultivating positive attitudes, self-motivation, and emotional resilience can empower patient participation in care, overcome challenges associated with multimorbidity and aging, and improve quality of life.
Key finding: Through in-depth qualitative interviews and interpretative phenomenological analysis, the study identified self-motivation, lifestyle modification, and emotional resilience as key themes that elderly patients perceive as... Read more