Title : The impact of digital innovation and lifestyle medicine on nursing roles and practices
Abstract:
The convergence of digital innovation and lifestyle medicine is rapidly reshaping nursing roles, offering unprecedented opportunities to enhance patient care, professional practice, and healthcare outcomes. This paper explores how emerging technologies — including wearable devices, mobile health apps, telemedicine, and AI-driven analytics — are transforming the landscape of nursing by enabling more proactive, personalized, and preventive approaches to health management. Simultaneously, the growth of lifestyle medicine, with its focus on evidence-based interventions targeting nutrition, physical activity, stress management, sleep, social connection, and substance avoidance, aligns closely with nursing’s holistic ethos and patient advocacy traditions. Drawing on current research, case studies, and practical examples, this presentation highlights how nurses are increasingly positioned as key facilitators in integrating digital tools and lifestyle interventions into routine care. These innovations empower nurses to lead on health promotion, chronic disease management, and patient education, while also driving new competencies in data interpretation, behaviour change coaching, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The session will address both opportunities and challenges, including the need for updated training, ethical considerations around data privacy, and the risk of widening health inequalities through digital exclusion. Ultimately, this paper argues that embracing digital innovation and lifestyle medicine will expand nursing’s impact, offering a pathway to more sustainable, equitable, and patient-centered healthcare. This topic will be of particular relevance to nurse leaders, educators, and clinicians seeking to future-proof their practice in alignment with global healthcare trends.
