Lifestyle medicine integrated care models in primary care and factors that contribute to their effective implementation: a rapid scoping review.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Globally, there has been a rise in chronic disease attributable to a change in lifestyle post-industrialisation. Lifestyle medicine has shown promise in preventing and managing these conditions, yet within the context of Australia it remains underutilised in general practice due to structural and systemic barriers. Lifestyle medicine focuses on behavioural interventions across modifiable lifestyle factors to prevent and treat noncommunicable disease. Additionally, it has been established that behavioural change is more likely when social and lifestyle needs are addressed as a whole system. This rapid scoping review evaluated implementation of lifestyle medicine in primary care and identified key enablers and barriers to inform its effective integration into the Australian primary healthcare system. METHOD(S): Following an adapted Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews method for rapid scoping reviews, MEDLINE Ovid and CINAHL databases were searched for models of care utilising lifestyle medicine interventions in primary care. In total 28 studies were included for review. RESULT(S): Key enablers included embedding lifestyle medicine into standard care pathways, employing health coaches and social prescribers, offering group or digital interventions, and incorporating lifestyle medicine into medical education. Identified barriers included time constraints, fee-for-service funding models that discourage holistic care, limited practitioner training in health coaching, and poor integration with community services. CONCLUSION(S): Although lifestyle medicine holds significant promise, its success depends on integrated care models, team-based delivery, policy support, and further research using implementation science frameworks. We suggest using lifestyle medicine as a quality improvement framework to guide future system reform, practice innovation, and evidence generation in primary care in Australia.Copyright © 2026 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of La Trobe University.