The complimentary toolkit equips employers with clear, evidence-based strategies to address chronic disease, improve workforce performance, manage rising healthcare costs and build more sustainable, health-focused organizations.
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) today announced the release of a new resource designed to help employers improve health outcomes, strengthen workforce performance and manage rising healthcare costs.
“A Guide to Bringing Lifestyle Medicine into Workplaces” is intended for employer leaders, benefits executives, and clinicians seeking to integrate lifestyle medicine into workplace health strategies. The toolkit, currently available at no cost, provides clear recommendations, evidence-based best practices, and a step-by-step roadmap to move from concept to execution.
Federal health programs are projected to cost $23.6 trillion between 2026 and 2035, with chronic disease and related conditions driving the majority of costs and workforce productivity losses. As a result, shifting from a reactive “sick care” model to a proactive health ecosystem is essential for employer sustainability.
“Employers are uniquely positioned to influence health by shaping benefits, workplace environments, and access to care,” said ACLM Senior Director of Practice Advancement Jessica Jolly, MHA, MPH, DipACLM, NBC-HWC, CHES, CLSSGB. “This guide offers deployable, actionable strategies to help organizations move beyond fragmented wellness programs and toward integrated, high-value care.”
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 clinicians apply the six pillars of lifestyle medicine—optimal nutrition, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, connectedness, and avoidance of risky substances—to treat, prevent, and, in some cases, reverse these conditions.
By combining clinical expertise in lifestyle medicine with workplace health leadership, ACLM and ACOEM are advancing a more integrated, scalable model for addressing chronic disease where adults spend a significant portion of their time: the workplace.
Key features of the guide include:
- A practical framework positioning employers as agents of change in advancing workforce health
- An implementation roadmap that guides organizations from assessment through scaling and institutionalization
- Strategies for integrating lifestyle medicine into benefits, clinical care, and workplace culture
- Tools and resources to support data measurement, partner selection, and long-term sustainability
- Case examples illustrating how organizations are applying these approaches in real-world settings
The resource also emphasizes the importance of aligning workplace health strategies with evidence-based, whole-person frameworks such as Total Worker Health®, enabling organizations to address physical, mental, and social determinants of health in a coordinated way.
“This collaboration reflects what occupational and environmental medicine has long understood: the workplace is one of the most powerful platforms we have for preventing chronic disease and supporting well-being,” said President of the ACOEM Board of Directors Jill Rosenthal, MD, MPH, MA, MSQM, FACOEM. “By bringing lifestyle medicine and occupational health together, this guide gives employers and clinicians a practical roadmap to build environments where health can thrive, not just to treat disease after it appears, but to prevent it. That’s the future of workforce health, and ACOEM is proud to help lead the way.”
The guide highlights that successful implementation depends not only on clinical interventions but also on leadership commitment, organizational culture, and access to multidisciplinary care. By embedding these elements, employers can improve engagement, support long-term behavior change, and create a culture of health across their organizations.
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