As patient interest in wellness continues to rise, GPs are largely supportive of incorporating lifestyle-based interventions into primary care—including physical activity, sleep, nutrition, and where appropriate, supplements.
How GPs Understand Wellness
When asked how they define “wellness,” GPs consistently described it as a holistic, lifestyle-oriented model of care that goes beyond the absence of disease.
Common themes included mental and emotional wellbeing, preventative care, and proactive lifestyle choices involving nutrition, exercise, stress management, sleep, and social connection.
Many saw wellness as “living to full capacity” or “optimising health before disease sets in.” As one GP put it, “Wellness is about supporting physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing through daily practices—not just treating disease when it arises.”
Others described it as “the foundation of good medical care” and a means of empowering patients to sustain health through modifiable habits, sometimes supported by selective use of supplements. While opinions on nutraceuticals varied, there was broad consensus that lifestyle change is central to how GPs view and support wellness.
What GPs Consider Core Elements of Wellness
When asked to identify the components of wellness in clinical practise, GPs highlighted the following priorities:
| Physical activity / exercise | 96% |
| Stress and mental health management | 93% |
| Nutrition | 88% |
| Sleep quality | 88% |
| Social connection / community | 86% |
| Preventative screening | 80% |
| Spiritual wellbeing | 53% |
| Prescription medications | 34% |
| Supplements and nutraceuticals | 21% |
| Health tracking (e.g. apps, wearables) | 17% |
According to the AusDoc survey on wellness and supplements, nearly 60% of GPs strongly agree that wellness interventions have clinical value in disease management, and over 55% believe such strategies are of equal importance to prescription medications for disease prevention.
These numbers clearly indicate an alignment between doctors and the growing public interest in preventative health.
Despite their broad support for wellness in clinical care, only about one in three GPs (34%) say they feel fully confident discussing it with patients.
As one GP admitted, “There’s often a lack of time and trust in the evidence around wellness products—so I avoid going too far into it unless asked.” Another reflected, “I think it’s important, but I’m not sure what’s hype and what’s useful. Patients often know more about new trends than we do.”
Where GPs get their Wellness Information
In seeking to better support patients, GPs are already turning to a diverse mix of information sources for wellness and self-care guidance. According to the AusDoc survey, the most frequently cited sources include:
- Online CPD-accredited education (61%),
- Independent medical websites like AusDoc (61%), and
- Professional conferences or workshops (58%).
Over half also rely on CPD-accredited webinars, independent medical journals, and colleagues or professional networks.
However, fewer GPs report turning to lifestyle medicine organisations (18%), pharmaceutical or supplement company materials (13%), or KOL-led events (9%). These numbers suggest that while there is demand for credible, independent educational content, there remains an opportunity for wellness-focused brands to gain trust by supporting evidence-based, CPD-accredited learning formats that GPs already value.
Initiating Wellness Discussions
Furthermore, many GPs reported difficulty initiating wellness discussions, citing lack of time, inconsistent evidence, patient misinformation, and concerns about safety or supplement interactions. As one put it, “Lot of patients get information re unproven supplements and believe in them. It is difficult to reason out as there is some mistrust in western medicine as well.” Another added, “Sometimes there is no evidence for particular strategy which patient may get carried away by general advice without consideration for interaction.”
The Opportunity for Industry is Clear
Pharma and nutraceutical brands can play a greater role in empowering GPs with trusted, independent clinical resources. Educational campaigns, CPD-accredited webinars, and detailed product safety data can help address the confidence barrier. Field representatives trained to speak to evidence-based applications of supplements in real-world primary care could also fill an important gap.
Ultimately, GPs are not resistant to wellness, but without greater confidence, they’re less likely to bring it up. Brands that bridge this gap have an opportunity to be not only better partners, but better educators and enablers of proactive patient care.
Contact Us
Looking to run a campaign and engage doctors with confidence? For further information, contact us to discuss how AusDoc can support you with the reassurance you need.
Source
AusDoc survey: “Understanding Doctor Attitudes and Behaviours into Wellness, Nutrition, and Supplements” June 2025 (n = 358)
This article was written with the assistance of AI