Document resource
Sport and exercise medicine (SEM) clinicians are urged to embrace a biopsychosocial model of care. In this editorial, we highlight how elements of a behavioural medicine approach can be integrated into SEM to better support athletes recovering from injury. While SEM, modern pain science and behavioural medicine share significant overlap, they also have differences. We explore these distinct lenses and provide examples of how a behavioural medicine perspective can enhance SEM practice and guide future research aimed at improving athlete care. While the biopsychosocial model highlights the importance of including psychological and social factors in recovery, the model itself is mute on how to implement this. Behavioural medicine offers theory and evidence-based strategies, which provide a framework for how to address these factors in the practice of SEM. This then becomes a way to translate and implement the biopsychosocial model into concrete strategies for rehabilitation and recovery.