Q&A: Lifestyle Medicine Conference ‘will help transform your practice’

Key takeaways:

• The American College of Lifestyle Medicine annual conference will begin Oct. 29 in Denver.
• The conference will explore how to implement tenets of lifestyle medicine into clinical practice.

At the upcoming American College of Lifestyle Medicine conference, providers will explore the benefits of exercise, a healthy diet and good sleep — and how “prescribing” these lifestyle behavior interventions could revolutionize clinical practice.

Health care professionals of all kinds should attend the conference later this month to learn how chronic conditions can be treated, and even reversed, through changes in diet and behavior, Elizabeth P. Frates, MD, FACLM, DipABLM, president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), told Healio in an interview. The knowledge could be life-changing for both providers and patients.

“I wish every health care provider could gain access to this particular conference, because it is on target and ripe for everything that we’re dealing with as a nation,” Frates said.

Lifestyle medicine consists of “six pillars”: a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern; regular physical activity; stress management; restorative sleep; social connection; and avoidance of risky substances. Attendees will get a taste of those pillars throughout the conference with the catering of a whole-food, plant-predominant diet and a 5K fun run on the second morning of the event.

About 2,000 people are signed up to attend the conference from Sunday, Oct. 29, to Wednesday, Nov. 1, at the Gaylord Rockies Resort in Denver, Colorado. In-person attendance is sold out, but the virtual experience is still available. If readers are interested, they can sign up here.

CME credits will also be available during the conference. For more information, Healio sat down with Frates to learn more about the conference.

Healio: Who should consider coming to this conference?

Frates: Anyone who is sick of this “sick care” model that we have for health care in the United States.

People who come to these meetings are attracted to lifestyle medicine for a variety of reasons. Many people come for their own healing — they are feeling lost, overworked, overstressed, perhaps burned out, and they are seeking a different life, a different way of practicing for themselves. Learning about the science behind these pillars is eye opening and often opens up an avenue for self-healing, self-reflection and a change in self-care. And studies have shown that physicians preach what they practice.

A lot of people are getting tired of prescribing another medication, and then another medication, and then another medication, and seeing very minimal change. This is a way of potentially even de-prescribing the medication while you’re prescribing exercise, a change in diet, sleep hygiene and helping patients get better. It’s rewarding for clinicians to see patients improve.

If you’re looking to transform your practice as a physician or a health care professional, this conference will help you transform your practice.

Healio: What are some of the conference’s key highlights?

Frates: I think what people will be really interested in is Dr. Dean Ornish’s opening remarks. He’s our kick-off with a unifying theory of lifestyle medicine.

And then a really powerful session for clinicians and physicians: “Transforming Primary Care to Deliver High-Value, Equitable Whole-Person Care.” This is key. There are a lot of physicians who’ve been practicing in this sick care model, and they want to transform their practice. At this conference, physicians can learn how to practice within a value-based care model that is equitable and whole-person-centric.

Healio: What is new about this conference compared with previous ACLM conferences?

Frates: Originally with lifestyle medicine, we spent a lot of time convincing people of the science of the six pillars and explaining that exercise is medicine, food is medicine. Two decades later, patients and practitioners alike are convinced. The difference this year is there’s a real focus on the how-to, the implementation of the practice of lifestyle medicine for health care professionals.

Healio: What can attendees expect from the format of the conference?

Frates: There are big keynotes that 2,000 of us are going to be in the same room for. And then we break off, and people can select from one of four tracks. If you’re interested in, say, the business of medicine track Monday afternoon, but Tuesday afternoon you’re really fascinated by the science of lifestyle medicine, just jump over to the science of lifestyle medicine track. If you’re a nurse or a dietician or a health coach and want to know, “What are my options as a nonphysician in this space?” you may want to dive into that allied health professional track. We like to have the big group where we’re all together, then we like to have the smaller tracks where people can really connect.

Healio: To what extent are the principles of lifestyle medicine now being used in clinical practice?

Frates: It’s getting into medical schools now, but it hasn’t been in the traditional curriculum. Some medical schools have it throughout their 4 years, whereas others have electives. Nearly half of medical schools now have lifestyle medicine interest groups.

As an organization, ACLM has grown to 10,000 members. We have physician members, as well as nurses, nurse practitioners, physician associates, physical therapists, occupational therapists, dieticians, fitness professionals, nutrition specialists, health coaches and health and wellness coaches. About 68% of ACLM's voting members are MD-DO, and the remaining are other health care professionals. More than 5,000 physicians and other health care professionals are now certified to practice lifestyle medicine globally.