Dr. Steinbarger summed up an overall trend she noted of presentations that recognize the importance of lifestyle medicine, which is pivotal to ARP professions, she said. “This and other sessions mentioned over and over again how important things like sleep, environment, diet, physical activity, mental health, workplace health, and community education are to our patients as a whole,” Dr. Steinbarger said in an email after the conference.
“Medication is important, but the success or failure of a carefully crafted medication regimen can be determined by lifestyle factors,” she said. “This highlights the importance of the ARP and the professions it represents, which are sorely underutilized. PTs [physical therapists], OTs [occupational therapists], social workers, dietitians, etc., are the go-to experts for these lifestyle factors, and we need to do better.”
Catherine Kolonko is a medical writer based in Oregon.
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