Empowering Cancer Survivors: The Transformative Impact of Multidisciplinary Lifestyle Medicine on Quality of Life

In a discussion with CancerNetwork^®, Rachel A. Millstein, PhD, MHS; Loren Winters, NP; and Amy Comander, MD, elaborated on their article titled Establishing a Multidisciplinary Lifestyle Medicine Clinic for Cancer Survivorship, published in the November 2024 edition of ONCOLOGY^®. The authors outlined the initiation of an innovative oncology-focused multidisciplinary lifestyle medicine clinic aimed at improving the quality of life (QOL) for individuals who have survived cancer.

Millstein works as a psychologist in the Behavioral Medicine Program and serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. Winters is an oncology nurse practitioner and assistant director of the Lifestyle Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. Comander is the medical head of the Mass General Cancer Center-Waltham, director of the Breast Oncology Program at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, and director of the Lifestyle Medicine Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Millstein discussed the reasoning behind this publication related to creating a multidisciplinary lifestyle medicine clinic, emphasizing the necessity to enhance awareness and assistance for lifestyle medicine consultations and behavioral health changes in care for cancer survivors. Following this, Winters explained how the multidisciplinary clinic operates in accordance with six fundamental pillars of lifestyle medicine, as team members work to encourage physical activity, plant-centric diets, restorative sleep, stress management, the avoidance of harmful substances, and social connections to boost QOL in cancer survivors.

Furthermore, Comander underscored how the lifestyle medicine program maximizes health and wellness by aligning patients with the specific services they require, which could involve support from team members like board-certified doctors, nurse practitioners, registered dieticians, and clinical psychologists. Millstein and Winters then shared the positive health behavior changes noted in two patient cases within their program, showcasing the possible advantages of employing comprehensive and varied lifestyle medicine strategies in supportive oncology care.

Looking forward, Comander emphasized the significance of addressing educational gaps, the shortage of programs targeting areas such as weight control, and various obstacles to executing lifestyle medicine in oncology care. Ultimately, each author conveyed her aspiration to see an increased number of colleagues, clinics, and initiatives integrate lifestyle medicine to enhance the QOL of cancer survivors. The authors welcome listeners to reach out to them if they are interested in exploring ways to implement lifestyle medicine in their respective facilities.