What is it about?
The HEPAS (Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, and Sleep hygiene) is a multidisciplinary approach to support the physical and mental health of individuals at risk of/with neuropsychiatric diseases that was first presented by Italian and American experts from IRCCS Orthopedic Institute Galeazzi and Stanford University. The cornerstones of this program include food and nutrition education, the promotion of an active lifestyle, and indications to aid restful sleep. In its conceptual model, HEPAS may not only be translated from Neuropsychiatry to Orthopedics, but it could also be feasible in the various stages of orthopedic disease progression, being implemented during the phase of health promotion and prevention of musculoskeletal disorders, the phase of reduction of disease burden, and the phase of adverse outcome prevention. The aim of this opinion article is to discuss how HEPAS can be exploited in the journey of orthopedic patients, showing its potential value in perfectly matching the burdens that grip the old person.
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Why is it important?
Each phase of musculoskeletal disease progression and care path is known to be stumbling upon deficits of nutritional, motor, and night-rest nature, eventually leading to falling traumas or orthopedic surgery. The HEPAS approach brings together indications on healthy eating, physical activity, and sleep hygiene. This triad, completed by an appropriate self-government education, may be the ideal candidate program to support individual health both in the home environment and institutionalized settings.
Perspectives
Taking care of the deficits that affect muscles, bones, and the general physical and mental ability, the HEPAS could have value in musculoskeletal health promotion, prevention of osteosarcopenia and falling traumas, optimization before elective orthopedic surgery, post-operative rehabilitation, and home-base life sustenance. In the future, assuming that HEPAS can be applied for different musculoskeletal-related conditions, it will be necessary to detail the adaptation of each dimension to patient types (e.g., at risk of vs. with disease) and phase (e.g., prevention vs. rehabilitation). Confidently, telemedicine approaches will favor the inclusion of valid remote programs, managing home-based individuals through interactive platforms capable of reviving the “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (by Michel Gondry, 2004).
Dr. M. Briguglio
IRCCS Ospedale Galeazzi - Sant'Ambrogio
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Burdens of Orthopedic Patients and the Value of the HEPAS Approach (Healthy Eating, Physical Activity, and Sleep Hygiene), Frontiers in Medicine, May 2021, Frontiers,
DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2021.650947.
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Resources
Dieta, sport e sonno contro le patologie neurologiche: è l’approccio HEPAS
Un vero e proprio stile di vita che è risultato benefico nei pazienti neurologici e ortopedici, ma anche per prevenire le patologie neurologiche stesse.
Original study article
This is the paper that reported the original published article.
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