“ACLM's free course, 'The Fundamentals of Lifestyle Medicine and Food as Medicine,' is a great first step for clinicians at health care institutions who are interested in leading this change.”
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Although lifestyle modification is the first recommended treatment in chronic disease guidelines, most healthcare professionals receive little training in the clinical application of lifestyle modification or nutrition during their formal medical education. In one research study, participants who completed the Fundamentals of Lifestyle Medicine and Diet Therapy self-reported a significant increase in their knowledge and confidence regarding lifestyle medicine. Survey respondents also reported a significant increase in how often they practiced lifestyle medicine and in the number of patients they practiced with.
The course includes a one-hour “Introduction to Lifestyle Medicine” and the first two modules of ACLM’s multi-module “Food as Medicine” course, “Nutrition for Prevention and Longevity” and “Nutrition for Treatment and Risk Reduction,” which aim to spark a paradigm shift toward treating the root causes of chronic disease rather than addressing only the symptoms.
“We congratulate the American Society of Lifestyle Medicine for demonstrating the impact the association has on our industry, our profession, and society at large,” said ASAE President and CEO Michelle Mason, FASAE, CAE. “It's always so satisfying to see associations go beyond their day-to-day mission to work to change the world, and we're so proud to highlight this award-winning effort.”
Interest in the field of lifestyle medicine is growing rapidly as health systems, payers, and policymakers realize that the traditional approach to medicine in the United States, which involves managing chronic disease symptoms with an ever-increasing number of pharmaceuticals and risky procedures, is not working. Clinicians who are dissatisfied and disillusioned with the current system are experiencing high rates of burnout and some are leaving the profession, which only exacerbates the existing physician shortage.
Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary tool to treat chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Lifestyle medicine-certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle modifications to treat and, with intensive use, often reverse these conditions. These conditions can also be effectively prevented by applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine: whole foods, plant-based eating patterns, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, good social connections, and avoidance of dangerous substances.
Nearly 6,700 physicians and health care professionals have achieved certification in lifestyle medicine since certification began in 2017. ACLM’s Health System Council, a network of leading health systems committed to integrating lifestyle medicine, has grown to 113 health system member organizations in 37 states.
ACLM’s “Fundamentals of Lifestyle Medicine and Food as Medicine” course also recently received the “Profile Award for Excellence” in Medical Education from the American Association of Medical Association Executives (AAMSE).
“The unsustainable trajectory of chronic disease for Americans of all ages must and can be reversed,” said ACLM CEO Susan Benigas. “Healthcare leaders recognize that lifestyle medicine has the potential to spark the healthcare reform that clinicians and patients desperately need. ACLM's free course, 'Lifestyle Medicine and Food as a Foundation for Care,' is a great first step for clinicians at healthcare organizations interested in leading this change. We thank the American College of Association Executives for recognizing the importance and success of this effort.”
About ACLM®
The American Academy of Lifestyle Medicine is a US health professional association that promotes the field of lifestyle medicine as a catalyst for change, a disruptor of the status quo, and a driver of change, as the foundation for a redesigned, value-based, equitable health care delivery system that is essential to achieving the Five-Fold Aim and Whole Person Health. ACLM represents, advocates, trains, certifies, and equips its members to identify and eradicate the root causes of chronic disease by optimizing modifiable risk factors. ACLM is filling a significant void in lifestyle medicine (including food as medicine) in medical education, and does so across the medical education continuum while also advancing research, clinical practice, and reimbursement strategies. Extending and improving life expectancy while curbing the alarming, unsustainable trajectory of health care costs is what lifestyle medicine delivers.
Media Contact
Alex Branch, American Academy of Lifestyle Medicine, 9719835383, (email protected), https://lifestylemedicine.org/
Source: American Academy of Lifestyle Medicine
