Expanding Education Boosts Lifestyle Medicine Adoption Across Health Systems

News-Medical.net (09/23/25)

New research highlights how expanding educational opportunities increases the adoption of lifestyle medicine (LM) across health systems. The qualitative study, conducted by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, included more than 60 interviews with clinicians, administrators, and educators from eight U.S. health systems. Researchers found that intentional education - such as continuing medical education courses, certification programs, webinars, mentoring, and conference participation - boosts clinicians' confidence and competence in delivering LM interventions to prevent and treat chronic diseases. Key strategies include embedding lifestyle medicine into employee wellness initiatives, promoting peer learning, and supporting certification efforts. These approaches not only shift organizational culture but also inspire clinicians to become advocates and mentors. For example, one certified physician helped 15 colleagues pursue board certification. The study also identified essential content areas for education: defining lifestyle medicine, understanding its evidence base, behavior change counseling, referral pathways, and business operations. Raising awareness of available resources — both internal and external — was deemed critical for consistent patient care and referrals.. The research, published in Translational Behavioral Medicine, offers a roadmap for health system leaders to foster sustainable growth in lifestyle medicine by investing in both formal and informal educational strategies.

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