Carthage, IL – Kara Andrew, Memorial Hospital Director of Health Promotion, has been elected to serve a three-year term as co-chair in the fitness and medicine member interest group for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM). This appointment recognizes Andrew’s commitment to advancing the principles of lifestyle medicine and fostering collaboration between medical and fitness professionals.
Andrew’s journey to co-chair began with her service as a Connect Ambassador, a role in which she was actively engaged in lifestyle medicine forums. During a pivotal Zoom call for Connect Ambassadors, the topic of co-chair elections arose, prompting Andrew to spontaneously throw her name into the ring. This initiative resulted in a successful election.
The fitness and medicine group, which serves roughly 1,600 members worldwide, is dedicated to promoting the integration of lifestyle medicine principles into healthcare practices. Andrew will work closely with Dr. Andrew Mock from Loma Linda University in Southern California and Melyssa Allen, a well-coach for “Melyssa with a WHY, LLC,” located in Orlando, Florida, to enhance physicians and fitness professionals across all levels. Andrew’s focus as co-chair will be to facilitate referral processes, optimize reimbursement practices, and spearhead initiatives to promote awareness of lifestyle medicine’s transformative impact. Dr. Mock is currently leading efforts to develop comprehensive strength training protocols for patient care, furthering the group’s mission to promote holistic wellness.
The Fitness and Medicine group’s mission is “to connect medical professionals (and their patients) with qualified fitness professionals across the U.S., to increase awareness among medical professionals on the importance of resistance training for the prevention and management/reversal medical maladies, to create educational content for both medical and fitness professionals as a primary way to bridge the gap, via breaking down the “language barrier” that exists between fitness and healthcare.”
As co-chair, Andrew brings a wealth of expertise and enthusiasm to her role, driving initiatives that promote lifestyle medicine’s integration into mainstream healthcare practices and empowering individuals to embrace a holistic approach to health and wellness.
Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Lifestyle medicine certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle changes to treat and often reverse such conditions when used intensively. Lifestyle Medicine has six pillars: nutrition, physical activity, stress management, restorative sleep, social connection, and avoidance of risky substances. The ACLM is the medical professional society for physicians and other professionals dedicated to clinical and worksite practice as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable healthcare system. To learn more about the ACLM, visit lifestylemedicine.org.
