Learning Objectives:
- Define health equity
- Explain the vision and focus of the Health Disparities Solutions Summit (HDSS)
- Describe the rationale for using a Community Based Research approach
- Identify action steps recommended by the HDSS to help address health disparities
“The goal of this article is to help educate and encourage physicians who offer evidence-based recommendations rooted in lifestyle medicine to do so while considering the all-important context of a person’s social determinants of health. Recommending a plant-based diet or going on daily walks is important but it’s equally important to know whether your patients have access to healthy food and a safe environment to be able to apply those recommendations.”
Jasmol Sardana, DO, FACLM, DipABLM
Health Equity Achieved through Lifestyle Medicine Initiative
Building Health Equity: Action Steps From the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s Health Disparities Solution Summit (HDSS) 2020
Interdisciplinary solutions created from the collective knowledge and experiences of practitioners and experts from across multiple sectors are urgently needed to effectively address health disparities. With the belief that the power of diversity in ideas and voices can develop effective, innovative solutions, the inaugural Health Disparities Solutions Summit (HDSS), produced by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), was held virtually in late 2020.
Organized by ACLM’s Health Equity Achieved through Lifestyle Medicine (HEAL) Initiative, the convening was designed to harness this collective power. The Summit was born out of the vision of ACLM Immediate Past president Dexter Shurney, MD, MBA, MPH, FACLM, DipABLM, to address lifestyle-related chronic, disease health disparities, with particular emphasis on inequities impacting dietary lifestyle and stress in historically marginalized communities. The Summit convened physicians, faith-based leaders, academics, and community organizers to identify expert consensus and recommended action steps specific to addressing health disparities through the lens of lifestyle medicine.
Invited Summit participants engaged in roundtable discussions grounded in three vision statements for eliminating health disparities:
- (1) Health care providers effectively trained in evidence-based lifestyle medicine, equipped to partner with their patients in underserved communities to minimize stress in the medical setting, ensuring optimal health outcomes;
- (2) High levels of food and nutrition literacy among patients and providers in underserved communities; and
- (3) Food as medicine fully integrated into communities, their cultures and values—implemented in underserved communities in a culturally relevant way to achieve health equity.
This paper provides background on the realities of health disparities in the United States, introduces the entrance point of lifestyle medicine (LM) practice in the struggle for health equity, and summarizes Summit proceedings and recommended action steps.
This learning activity consists of one AJLM article and one quiz.
Duration: 1 hour
Assessment and Measurement: A score of 80% or higher on the quiz is required to pass the learning activity.
Specifications: This course can be viewed on desktop, tablet or mobile device.
Term of Approval:
Participant User Agreement (Terms of Use and Copyright): Before registering for a Continuing Education/Continuing Medical Education Course (“Training”) for the first time, carefully review the following conditions of usage at https://lifestylemedicine.org/terms-of-use-and-copyright-cme-ce/.
Registering for an American College of Lifestyle Medicine Course indicates your acceptance of the Participant User Agreement and its terms and conditions.
Enrollment: Access to online material is granted through the term of approval which ends
Accreditation Statement:
In support of patient care, Rush University Medical Center is jointly accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
Designation Statement:
Rush University Medical Center designates this enduring material activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Rush University Medical Center designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.0 nursing contact hour.
This activity is being presented without bias and without commercial support.
Rush University Medical Center designates this knowledge-based enduring material for a maximum of 1.0 contact hour for pharmacists.
Rush University Medical Center designates this knowledge-based enduring material for 1.0 CE credit in psychology.
Rush University is an approved provider for physical therapy (216.000272), occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, social work (159.001203), nutrition, speech-audiology, and psychology by the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation.
Rush University designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.0 continuing education credit for physical therapists, occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, social workers, nutritionists, speech pathologists, audiologists, and/or psychologists.
This activity has been approved by the The Commission on Dietetic Registration for 1 CPEUs.
The American Board of Lifestyle Medicine has approved 1.0 maintenance of certification credit for this learning activity.