Lifestyle Medicine Pillars and Pedagogies in Pre-registration Health Profession Degrees: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Non-communicable diseases are the greatest cause of mortality and disability globally. Lifestyle medicine (LM) can facilitate effective prevention and treatment of such diseases. However, the extent and nature of LM education has not been sufficiently mapped. This scoping review aimed to assess the pedagogies, content and structure of LM education in pre-registration health profession degrees using the JBI methodology. Fifty-two articles met the inclusion criteria. Three of the six core LM pillars were not taught in the majority of programmes studied. Universities should survey their curricula to identify such gaps and appropriate opportunities to incorporate these pillars into existing modules.