Root Causes and Reversal: Lifestyle, Equity, and Social Connection

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Availability

Registration Required

Online Meeting

Oct 05, 2026 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM CT

Cost

$0.00

Credit Offered

1 AOA Category 1-A Credit

1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit

OVERVIEW
Chronic disease is not inevitable — and for many patients, reversal is within reach. This session centers the power of lifestyle medicine as a mechanism for disease remission, grounded in the osteopathic principle that the body possesses an inherent capacity for self-regulation and healing. But achieving that potential requires confronting the structural barriers that prevent equitable access to lifestyle interventions: food insecurity, social isolation, housing instability, and systemic inequities that disrupt the body-mind-spirit unit across communities. Social prescribing — connecting patients to community-based resources for connection, movement, nutrition, and purpose — is emerging as a critical digital health frontier, and this session examines how osteopathic physicians can lead its adoption. Participants will explore how digital tools can extend the reach of lifestyle medicine into underserved communities and drive outcomes at scale.

Speakers: Melissa Sunderman, DO, DipABLM; Christina Lucas-Vougiouklakis, DO, DipABLM, FACLM; Elizabeth Swenor, DO, DipABLM; David Bowman, MD, DipABLM

OBJECTIVES

Articulate the evidence for lifestyle intervention as a mechanism for disease remission — particularly for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and obesity — grounded in the osteopathic principle that the body possesses inherent self-regulatory and self-healing capacity
Examine how social determinants of health and structural inequities disrupt the body-mind-spirit unit and create downstream barriers to lifestyle medicine adoption across patient populations
Define social prescribing and describe its application as an emerging digital health frontier, including current models linking patients to community-based resources for connection, movement, and purpose
Identify digital health platforms that support health equity by extending access to lifestyle medicine interventions — including nutrition, restorative sleep, and substance avoidance resources — in underserved communities

Expiration Date: August 23, 2029

AOIA designates this activity for a maximum of 1 AOA Category 1-A Credits. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

The AOA designates this activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

This activity is jointly sponsored by the AOA and AOIA.