Resources

Ardmore Institute of Health (AIH) seeks to help establish Lifestyle Medicine and Whole Health as integral components of the delivery of care in the US healthcare system. We equip clinicians and health professionals with the resources needed to bring lifestyle medicine into the mainstream of clinical practice.

Not a clinician but interested in Lifestyle Medicine and Whole Health? These resources are valuable for you too.

Featured Resources

CME: Implementing Shared Medical Appointments Utilizing Full Plate Living

  • This AAFP credit system approved CME is offered free of cost by AIH to support physicians in implementing shared medical appointments (SMA) utilizing Full Plate Living.

  • When you register for the CME, you will learn:

    • Best practices for implementing a SMA

    • Resources available to make delivering a SMA easier

    • The Full Plate Living approach to improve nutrition and health

Full Plate Living

  • Full Plate Living is a free service of AIH that offers a simple and sustainable approach to healthy living, empowering individuals to achieve lasting well-being. Full Plate Living helps people add more whole, unprocessed fiber foods to their existing diet. This approach promotes achievable lifestyle changes that can lead to increased energy levels, lower cholesterol, improved blood sugar control, and weight loss.

  • Full Plate Living is grounded in extensive research and is one of only a few programs certified by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM). If you are a clinician looking to support your patients, you can:

    1. Refer patients to our free online program

    2. Host a Shared Medical Appointment (SMA)

    3. Facilitate a Group Program in your practice

    However you choose to engage, AIH will provide all needed materials.

Lifestyle Medicine Implementation Guide

Lifestyle Medicine Reimbursement Resources and Shared Medical Appointments Toolkit

  • The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) put together this collection of resources which includes:

    • A Shared Medical Appointment Toolkit

    • A Reimbursement Roadmap

    • A Literature Review on Medical Payment Models Alignment with Lifestyle Medicine

    • A Independent Primary Care Practice Roadmap

    • A Matrix on Medical Payment Models’ Alignment With Lifestyle Medicine

  • Lifestyle Medicine Shared Medical Appointments (LMSMAs) are a model of health care delivery that can address the challenges posed by chronic disease by improving access to care, reducing cost to patients and hospitals, reducing provider burnout and improving clinical outcomes.

Lifestyle Medicine Patient Education Handouts

  • AIH and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) developed patient education handouts (in English and Spanish) with more information on Lifestyle Medicine and 6 areas to improve health.

  • These handouts are an easy way to introduce patients to Lifestyle Medicine and Full Plate Living, a free nutrition service of AIH.

Community Engaged Lifestyle Medicine Resources

Value-based Care, Plant-based Nutrition, and Lifestyle Medicine Training

  • Plantrician University equips and empowers future physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, registered dietitians, public health officials, and other healthcare professionals in training, with the knowledge and tools they need to become advocates and educators for the evidence-based role of plant-based nutrition to prevent and dramatically reduce rates of chronic disease, grow health equity, and improve human and global health. 

    Seed funding for Plantrician University was provided in part by AIH.

  • Plantrician University is free to confirmed health profession students/faculty and clinicians in training around the world. Plantrician University believes the next generation of clinicians has the potential to usher in a new era of healthcare founded on the principles of value-based care, plant-based nutrition and lifestyle medicine.

Supplement: A Family Physician's Introduction to Lifestyle Medicine

  • With support from AIH, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) sponsored this supplement to The Journal of Family Practice. The supplement includes:

    • Introductory information on the definition of ​​Lifestyle Medicine’s 6 pillars

    • How Lifestyle Medicine delivery is influenced by key determinants of health

    • How Lifestyle Medicine is being used to prevent, treat, and sometimes reverse multiple types of chronic disease

    • A peek into the current practice of Lifestyle Medicine

    • What the future holds in education and policy

  • The urgent need to treat the root cause of lifestyle-related chronic disease led to the creation of this supplement. The goal is to provide family physicians with information on all aspects of Lifestyle Medicine.

CME: Improving Provider Health & Happiness

  • With grant support from AIH, Mass General Brigham (a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate) offers this free, 8-module CME to improve provider health and happiness and reduce burnout.

  • Healthy and happy providers are best able to model and promote sustainable healthy behaviors to patients. Upon completion of this CME, participants will be able to:

    1. Identify trends in clinician burnout

    2. Employ evidence-based strategies to increase well-being

    3. Utilize evidence-based guidelines for exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress reduction & social connection

The Spiritual Assessment

  • The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) offers the spiritual assessment as an opportunity to enhance the patient-physician relationship and incorporate patient views that may have a significant impact on clinical decision-making.

  • The physician-patient relationship is at the foundation of every interaction in family medicine, and multiple studies demonstrate significant relationships between spiritual interventions and improved mental and physical health outcomes.

CME: Lifestyle Medicine and Food as Medicine Essentials

  • The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) offers this free, 5.5-hour CME to introduce clinicians to the therapeutic use of Lifestyle Medicine. The course focuses on the most challenging pillar to address and the leading cause of many chronic issues – food.

  • This course will help clinicians understand how food can be medicine, how to become a role model of health, and how to embrace a future where sick care no longer drives clinical decisions.

Personal Health Inventory and Circle of Health Handouts

  • The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs utilizes Whole Health to support well-being. They created the Personal Health Inventory handout to help patients think about their whole health and the Circle of Health handout to educate patients on the components of proactive health.

  • Clinicians seeking to engage their patients in small-habit-adoption/behavior-change strategies like Full Plate Living can use these resources to connect with their patients' purpose and readiness to change. Begin asking "What matters to you?" instead of "What is the matter with you?"

Lifestyle Medicine CME & MOC

  • The American Medical Association (AMA) offers this online CME & MOC course to help physicians integrate wellness and lifestyle factors into their practice. Topics include Foundational Lifestyle Medicine, Prevention and Management of Cardiovascular Disease, Exercise and Physical Activity, Lifestyle Interventions to Prevent Cancers, Mental Health, and Physician Wellness & Reducing Burnout.

  • This course equips physicians to coach patients more effectively. Physicians will better understand how improved intake of healthy food and nutrition, increased physical activity, obesity, weight and stress management, sleep, social support, and limiting certain environmental exposures all play a role in affecting overall health.

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