Over 80% of chronic disease and 40% of cancers can be attributed to diet and lifestyle. Thirty years of worsening trends in obesity and chronic disease indicate a need to change how this problem is addressed. Banner Health’s North Colorado Family Medicine (NCFM) is on a mission to impact their patients’ lives through education and support.
The Weld Trust provided a grant to NCFM to create their Lifestyle Medicine Patient Program. The mission of The Weld Trust is to promote excellence in health and education. The Lifestyle Medicine Program exemplifies this mission.
The program is 10 weeks long, consisting of individual work and group meetings. The group visits include a facilitator (Lifestyle Medicine trained counselor or dietitian) and provider (MD or FNP board certified in Lifestyle Medicine). Participants take a deep dive into why they eat what they eat, learn to set SMART goals about health behaviors, cook a plant-based meal, practice stress relieving techniques, and so much more.
Two of NCFM’s board certified Lifestyle Medicine providers, Lynn Stiff, MD, RD, MS and Alexandra Lessem, DNP, FNP, are passionate about empowering patients to make lasting change in their lives.
“The goal of the program is for participants to gain the depth of knowledge and personal insight required to implement and sustain behavior change for optimal health,” states co-creator, Dr. Lynn Stiff.
“People often think behavior change is simple and are filled with shame and disappointment when they aren’t successful. The truth is behavior change is hard. It starts with the person who decides to make an intentional effort to go against the default in our society and live a healthier life. Then it grows with support, education and perseverance which can be nurtured through a program like the one we’ve created.”
NCFM is working on ways to implement this program across Weld County. While they will continue to offer the medically facilitated program through their clinic, they also plan to offer the weekly videos at no cost to Weld County organizations who wish to facilitate their own group program.
To sign-up for NCFM’s free Lifestyle Medicine program, visit: https://www.subscribepage.com/lmevent2021