Lifestyle Medicine

Who is the clinic right for?

Any Mass General Cancer Center patient can benefit from this program.

Overview

Lifestyle Medicine helps people adopt evidence-based lifestyle behaviors (such as healthy eating habits, regular exercise, managing stress, forming and maintaining healthy relationships with others, sleep hygiene, and avoidance of risky substances) to improve and maintain health as well as prevent disease.

The foundations of our program:

• Exercise: Discuss ways to be active and resume exercise based on your current fitness level, personal goals, and cancer treatment
• Nutrition: Individualized, evidence-based sustainable advice to help you make healthy eating choices that fit your lifestyle
• Rehabilitation: Comprehensive evaluation to address any limitations and help you restore physical functioning and independence
• Sleep Improvement: Improve sleep health by creating an achievable plan that incorporates behaviors such as bedtime routine and relaxation strategies
• Stress Management: Develop strategies for reducing stress levels, integrating mindfulness into your life, and adopting other healthy lifestyle behaviors to improve your quality of life and mood
• Positive Behavior Changes: Making healthy lifestyle changes is more than the sum of these parts. Finding ways to put these principles together into a workable action plan to build resilience is the goal

We understand that when making lifestyle changes it can be hard to know where to start! Our experts will evaluate your personal needs and work with you on defining the steps needed to help you achieve your goals. We look forward to meeting you.

Locations

The Lifestyle Medicine Clinic is offered in our Boston, Waltham, and Danvers locations.

Boston

A visit to the Lifestyle Medicine Clinic in Boston will include four one-on-one consultations with expert clinicians from a variety of disciplines:

• Oncology
  One-on-one medical consultation regarding medical history and personalized recommendations for physical activity and other lifestyle changes
• Nutrition
  Individualized nutritional advice for making better eating choices, which can decrease some of the toxicities associated with certain cancer treatments and help you feel better
• Physical Therapy
  Physical therapy and/or an individualized exercise program based on your current fitness level, personal goals, and cancer treatment to help restore physical function and improve your outcome
• Behavioral Medicine
  Personal counseling session in which we will work in partnership to assess your personal behavioral needs and set realistic, achievable goals to make these new habits stick

To make an appointment at the Lifestyle Medicine Clinic in Boston, please call 617-724-4000.

Waltham

The Lifestyle Medicine clinic at the Mass General Cancer Center at Waltham offers personalized lifestyle medicine consultations with an oncology nurse practitioner and a registered dietitian. During your visit, you will have one-on-one sessions with each clinician to discuss what motivates you to live a healthier life and your personal goals. Part of the conversation will include how to build on your skills and access resources to set healthy lifestyle choices that you can stick with. Social work, rehabilitation medicine, physical therapy, and integrative therapies are also available at the Waltham location.

Mass General Waltham Physical Therapy Clinic specializes in treating patients with oncology diagnoses, including cancer-related swelling, orthopedic, pelvic floor, and neurological symptoms that can arise during cancer treatment. Our therapists create individualized home exercise programs that are tailored to the needs and limitations of each patient, as well as maintain communication with referring doctors to ensure coordinated care.

To make an appointment at the Lifestyle Medicine clinic at the Mass General Cancer Center at Waltham, please call 781-487-6100.

Danvers

The Lifestyle Medicine clinic at the Mass General/North Shore Cancer Center offers personalized lifestyle medicine consultations with an oncology rehabilitation physician in addition to referrals to nutrition, physical therapy, social work, and behavioral medicine as needed. During your visit, you will have one-on-one sessions with each clinician to discuss what motivates you to live a healthier life and your personal goals. Part of the conversation will include how to build on your skills and access resources to set healthy lifestyle choices that you can stick with.

To make an appointment at the Lifestyle Medicine clinic at Mass General/North Shore Cancer Center, please call 978-882-6100.

Free Virtual Web Series

Staying Connected, Healthy, and Energized during COVID-19 and Beyond

The Lifestyle Medicine Clinic at the Mass General Cancer Center is hosting a free 6-part virtual series in which we will explore strategies for staying well during the pandemic and beyond. Each week will be hosted by an expert clinician from various fields such as oncology, psychology, and nutrition, and will equip you with the tools to set achievable goals during this challenging time. All cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers are welcome! Learn more here.