Treating the whole patient all at once

Show Me the Science

In this episode, we visit the team at the Washington University Living Well Center. It was launched to improve outcomes for patients with orthopedic issues. For example, if someone needs hip-replacement surgery, that person also can receive help losing weight, stopping smoking and taking other actions to make it more likely the outcome from their surgery will be as good as possible.

The center uses dietary counseling, physical therapy, massage, acupuncture and behavioral therapy to prepare some patients for surgery, while helping others improve without surgical intervention. In addition to orthopedic issues, health professionals at the center work with cancer patients, long COVID-19 patients and others. The idea, according to Devyani M. Hunt, MD, a professor of orthopedic surgery and the center’s medical director, is to treat the whole patient and to do it all in one place.

Specialists at the center work together to apply the “pillars of lifestyle medicine including using food as medicine, encouraging physical activity and exercise, addressing sleep issues, managing stress and addressing anxiety and depression, avoiding risky substances such as tobacco, and encouraging patients to make positive social connections. The center has had more than 200 patients come through its doors the last few years, and the outcomes for those patients suggest the approach is working.

The podcast, “Show Me the Science,” is produced by WashU Medicine Marketing & Communications at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.