Understand the Person through their Lifestyle

By Adam Widdison, author of The Expert Clinician

My work explores ways to enhance our thinking and performance, enabling us to better navigate the challenging realities of modern clinical practice.

At the heart of excellent clinical care is the ability to see each patient as a whole person, not merely as a collection of symptoms or a diagnosis to be solved.

In my previous blog posts, I explored how demographic information — age (The Personal Side of Demography: Age Beyond the Statistics), biological sex, gender identity and expression, and ethnicity (The Human Face of Demography: Navigating Sex, Gender Identity, Expression, and Ethnicity) — can inform diagnosis, disease risk, resilience, management, and life expectancy.

However, demographic information provides only part of the picture. To truly understand a patient’s experience, we must look beyond the data to the person behind it.

In this post, we’ll explore how understanding a patient’s lifestyle enriches clinical reasoning and enables us to deliver more personalised care.

What Do We Mean by Lifestyle?

Lifestyle refers to an individual’s typical way of life. It provides insight into their circumstances and how they use their time, energy and resources.

Lifestyle includes:

Home environment.
Relationships.
Socio-economic circumstances.
Occupation.
Physical activity and sleep.
Diet.
Quality of life.

Why Lifestyle Matters

A patient’s lifestyle and personal circumstances offer valuable insight into how they live, work and spend their time. They help us understand the influences that shape health, behaviour, priorities and decision-making.

Understanding lifestyle may:

Place the problem in context.
Refine the differential diagnosis.
Identify possible causes.
Highlight risk factors.
Influence management decisions and priorities.
Ensure treatment is realistic and appropriate.

By understanding these influences, we build stronger rapport, broaden our diagnostic perspective, and tailor investigations, treatment and follow-up to the individual rather than simply focusing on the presenting condition.

The aim is not simply to treat a complaint, but to understand the person experiencing it.

Put the Person First: Lifestyle Information Shapes the Consultation.

For most patients, gathering personal information happens naturally during the opening conversation.

When a patient is accompanied, always ask the accompanying person to introduce themselves and explain their relationship to the patient. This often provides the first insight into the patient’s life and support network.

From the very beginning, speak to the patient as a person rather than as a medical problem. This builds rapport and offers valuable insight into the person behind the illness.

Helpful opening questions include:

Tell me about yourself.
How do you spend your time?

As the consultation develops, a more detailed exploration of lifestyle may become appropriate. When it does, ask questions with purpose and limit them to clinically relevant information.

This approach avoids checklist medicine while supporting genuinely person-centred care.

Lifestyle Impacts Diagnosis

A patient’s lifestyle, occupation and close personal relationships often yield valuable diagnostic clues.

Consider their Home Environment.

The home environment can contribute to both injury and illness, sometimes in obvious ways—such as falls or burns—and sometimes more subtly, such as through infection, pollution, or exposure to lead or radon gas.

Although economic circumstances do not directly inform diagnosis, deprivation is a powerful determinant of health and contributes to many chronic conditions, such as:

Type 2 diabetes.
Cardiovascular disease.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Mental ill health.

Is their Occupation Relevant?

Occupation may be the direct cause of illness or injury, or it may increase the risk of developing certain conditions.

Examples include:

Musculoskeletal pain and injury (e.g. back pain, repetitive strain injuries, dementia in boxing, and Dupuytren’s contracture associated with prolonged use of vibrating tools).
Dermatitis.
Occupational asthma and pulmonary fibrosis.
Heavy metal poisoning (e.g. lead, arsenic or thallium).
Headaches, fatigue and mental ill health caused by stress, anxiety or depression.
Hearing loss.

Rather than simply asking, “What do you do?”, explore how a patient’s work affects their health and daily life.

Consider whether their occupation exposes them to:

Repetitive movements.
Heavy manual handling or vibration.
Chemicals or dust.
Loud noise.
Infectious diseases.
Psychological stress.
Prolonged sitting or shift work.

Don’t Forget Key “Others”.

Close personal relationships also profoundly influence health. They may affect:

Exposure to infectious diseases.
Sexual health risks.
Mental wellbeing.
Recovery from illness.
Long-term health outcomes.

Supportive relationships are associated with better physical and mental health, whereas loneliness, bereavement, chronic relationship conflict and social isolation are linked to depression, cardiovascular disease and premature mortality.

Abusive or controlling relationships may present with seemingly unrelated symptoms, including anxiety, poor sleep, headaches, unexplained pain, disordered eating, bowel dysfunction, weight loss, low self-esteem, or recurrent injuries.

Where appropriate and safe, consider speaking with the patient alone to sensitively explore concerns. Referral to specialist support services may be appropriate.

Diet, activity and Sleep may be Relevant.

Diet becomes clinically relevant when a patient is underweight or overweight, follows an unusual dietary pattern, or when a nutritional deficiency is suspected—for example, pellagra caused by niacin deficiency or beriberi resulting from thiamine deficiency.

Physical activity and sleep both have a direct impact on health and wellbeing. Regular exercise improves physical fitness and sleep quality, whereas poor sleep increases the risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and mental ill-health, often leading to reduced activity levels.

Lifestyle Influences Management

Understanding lifestyle helps us make more informed, compassionate choices about care.

Population studies consistently show that poor socio-economic circumstances are linked to poorer health outcomes. Contributing factors include poverty, lower educational attainment, poor housing, food insecurity, chronic stress and barriers to accessing healthcare.

Health equity is not about treating everyone the same; it is about recognising and reducing unfair barriers so that everyone has the opportunity to achieve the best possible health.

In practice, this begins with seeing the patient as a whole person and developing management plans that reflect their individual circumstances.

Are the Home Circumstances Relevant?

A patient’s home environment may significantly influence management.

Consider whether they are able to:

Manage everyday activities independently.
Live in their home safely.
Maintain personal hygiene.
Manage care (e.g., eye drops, wounds, stomas).

Many people living with chronic illness function remarkably well within their own environment and support network. Understanding these circumstances helps clinicians develop realistic and achievable management plans.

It is rarely necessary to explore a patient’s financial situation unless it is likely to affect management—for example, if they cannot afford treatment, travel to appointments, or take time off work.

Consider Support Networks.

Successful management often depends on the support available to the patient.

Questions about family members, carers and close relationships may reveal important practical considerations, such as:

Transport to appointments.
Support after surgery or illness.
Caring responsibilities.
Home adaptations.
Medication supervision.

Recognising these factors enables management plans to be tailored to the realities of everyday life.

Occupation May Need to be Factored in.

Occupation may influence both the choice and timing of management.

For example, patients working offshore, deployed overseas, or in other remote settings may require different planning and follow-up arrangements.

Certain occupations may also require health surveillance or screening, such as lung function testing for workers exposed to respiratory hazards.

Equally important is to consider how a diagnosis may affect a patient’s ability to work.

Examples include:

Driving restrictions following a seizure or myocardial infarction.
Claudication limiting walking distance.
Hand arthritis affecting keyboard use.
Peripheral neuropathy or tremor affecting the dexterity required by surgeons, dentists, musicians or other skilled professionals.

Considering these issues helps clinicians develop realistic management plans and supports patients in maintaining their independence and quality of life.

Take-Home Message

Know Their Lifestyle, Know the Person.

Lifestyle encompasses more than just habits; it reflects how individuals live, work, connect with others, and experience their environment.

By taking time to understand a patient’s personal circumstances, home life, relationships, occupation, activity, sleep, and diet, we gain valuable insight into the factors that influence their diagnosis, health, and healthcare.

This understanding helps us connect more effectively, enhances our thinking, encourages teamwork in decision-making, and guides us in creating practical, personalised management plans.

The more we understand the person behind the illness, the better equipped we are to care for the patient before us.

In my next blog, I’ll continue this series by exploring how quality of life and functional status shape healthcare priorities and clinical decision-making.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

How do you incorporate lifestyle information into your consultations?

Have you encountered situations where understanding a patient’s lifestyle significantly changed your clinical approach?

How do you integrate these aspects of a patient’s life into your everyday practice?

Please share your experiences in the comments below.

These ideas are explored further in The Expert Clinician: Bridging the Clinical Divide. If you’re interested in developing a more adaptive, patient-centred approach, you can read more here: