Having worked directly in the field of lifestyle medicine for the last dozen or more years, it has become clear to me that there is ample evidence supporting the effectiveness of lifestyle medicine interventions at both individual and community levels. The field of lifestyle medicine has been with us in a formal sense for about 20 years now, and in that time, it has matured significantly. Lifestyle medicine does not need further Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) to examine the effectiveness of interventions—we know they work. What is necessary now is research that helps us better understand how to deliver programming and interventions to communities in a way that has an impact.Â
Key insights:
I’ll be conducting four case studies on lifestyle medicine programs, all of which have been certified by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. These interventions cover a range of lifestyle behaviours. I am conducting interviews with key actors in these programs to identify the factors that support and inhibit implementation, based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Â
Impact and outcomes:
I expect that this research will become part of a growing body of implementation research in health sciences generally, and specifically in lifestyle medicine. I also expect it will identify high-level factors that influence the successful delivery of a lifestyle medicine program.Â
Research outputs:
Anticipated poster presentations at the annual conference of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine 2026. I’ll also be submitting an abstract to deliver a concurrent session on this topic at the same conference.
Fields of Research Codes:
4203 Health services and systemsÂ
4206 Public Health
4208 Traditional, complementary and integrative medicine
Status:
Current (2024 – 2026)
Sustainable Development Goals:
