Lifestyle Medicine
Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses lifestyle change as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions. Lifestyle medicine applies the medical, behavioral, environmental, and motivational principles to prevent, treat, and reverse chronic conditions.
The AAFP is focusing on supporting family physicians in addressing the five main domains of lifestyle medicine:
- Connectedness
- Movement
- Nutrition
- Recovery
- Substance use
When addressing all domains together, lifestyle medicine can address multiple chronic diseases simultaneously.
Family physicians are ideally positioned to champion and prescribe lifestyle medicine in the clinic. They can also work collaboratively with community health professionals to help patients sustain healthy behaviors over time.
The AAFP is compiling relevant information across lifestyle medicine, whole person care, and community collaboration to support you to improve health outcomes among your patients and in your community.
Community Engaged Lifestyle Medicine
The resources and tools available are designed to assist you in discussing healthy lifestyle options with your patients and integrating lifestyle medicine into your practice. Find approaches to healthy dieting, preventing teen suicide, amd managing diabetes – all developed by family physicians.
Mental Health & Well-being
Optimal health goes far beyond just physical health. It's important to account for your patients' mental health needs, which can also contribute to – or even worsen – physical conditions. As a trusted provider for families, you can stress the importance of caring for the whole person and offer support for patients struggling with metal health issues.
Caring for Patients With Obesity
Family Physicians play a critical role in counseling patients about healthy interventions to promote weight loss or prevent the onset of obesity. The AAFP offers evidence-based, practical obesity and fitness resources to support your patients’ weight management needs.
Oral Health
As the first line of defense against preventable illness and disease, you play a key role in promoting good oral health during patient visits. The AAFP offers clinical resources to help you discuss the health risks associated with developing oral disease.
Tools You Can Use to Incorporate Lifestyle Medicine into Family Practice
- Incorporating Lifestyle Medicine into Everyday Family Practice: Implementation Guide and Resources
- Leading Change: Incorporating Lifestyle Medicine into Everyday Practice
- Practice Assessment for Opportunities to Incorporate Lifestyle Medicine
- Additional Tools for the Lifestyle Medicine Team
- Reimbursement and Coding for Lifestyle Medicine
- Lifestyle Medicine Assessment (LMA) Tool: Survey Format
- Lifestyle Medicine Assessment Instructions and Tool (Mac)
- Lifestyle Medicine Assessment Instructions and Tool (Windows)
These tools are developed with support from the Ardmore Institute of Health.
Lifestyle Medicine in Practice
Online CME - New!
If you struggle to influence positive behaviors in patients with, or at risk for developing chronic diseases and conditions, this online CME course is for you. Earn up to 11.25 CME credits.