Tips to encourage your chiropractic patients to adopt your lifestyle recommendations 

While adult Americans are making a modest level of progress toward living healthier lifestyles, “efforts are still warranted” to help them make more positive changes, according to results of a 2023 study published in JAMA Network Open.

But do you ever feel like your lifestyle recommendations are being pushed to the wayside or flat-out ignored by your patients? Here are a few ways to not only get patients to better listen to your suggestions but actually adopt them. 

Connect lifestyle with musculoskeletal health

It’s common knowledge that one’s lifestyle impacts their physical health. However, what some fail to recognize is that their regular behaviors and actions impact their musculoskeletal health specifically. Educate them about the connection.  

For example, research involving 10,000 working adults found that getting five or more hours of physical activity each week and eating a healthy diet with fruits and vegetables was associated with a reduced risk of musculoskeletal pain. Conversely, individuals who smoked had a greater pain risk. Citing studies like these can help validate your lifestyle recommendations, backing up your suggestions with real-life data. 

Be specific with your lifestyle recommendations

A 2022 survey found that the number one reason people weren’t living a healthier lifestyle was that they didn’t understand the best actions to take. With all the conflicting health information out there, it’s easy to become unsure of what constitutes a healthy diet, what type of exercise is best, etc. 

Overcoming this barrier requires providing specific lifestyle recommendations. Instead of suggesting a patient “gets more exercise,” for example, share they should aim for at least 150 minutes each week of moderate-intensity exercise, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.  

Keep lifestyle recommendations easy to attain

A 2020 global survey revealed the harder people perceive developing a healthier lifestyle to be, the less likely they are to take positive steps toward that goal. This highlights the benefits of making lifestyle recommendations that aren’t only achievable but could also be perceived as easy. 

For instance, instead of recommending patients consume 2.5 servings of vegetables per day— the recommendation for individuals following a 2,000-calorie diet according to the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans — ask them to increase their intake by half a cup each day. Once they can achieve this goal consistently, increase it by another half cup. Breaking down lifestyle recommendations in this way can make them easier to achieve and sustain. 

Figure out what motivates patients

A 2023 survey reported motivation was a key factor in whether patients complied with their healthcare provider’s lifestyle recommendations. Finding ways to stoke their motivation can help turn this around. 

Before making any lifestyle recommendations as to what a patient can do to improve their musculoskeletal health, ask what it would mean for them. What could they do if they didn’t have chronic back or neck pain? How would their sports performance improve? Get them to see the end goal, then use their individual motivators to keep them on track with their lifestyle changes. 

Talk about healthy coping skills

People can have the best intentions in the world but let all their progress slip away after having one stressful day that causes them to regress. If they’re not careful, a slip-up can turn into a setback, taking them right back to where they started (or worse). 

Talk to patients about the mental or emotional barriers they face when it comes to adopting your lifestyle recommendations. Then discuss coping skills they can develop to deal with these barriers in healthy ways, such as exercising when they’re stressed versus eating donuts or cookies. This helps give them the tools they need to put your lifestyle recommendations into action and maintain them long-term. 

Final thoughts 

Thinking about how you choose, frame and discuss the lifestyle changes you suggest to your patients can go a long way toward making sure those changes become reality. Considering factors like specificity, perceived level of difficulty, individual motivation and stress will help keep your patients on track with their progress toward healthier lives.