Lifestyle Education
Unfortunately, doctors do not have enough time with their patients to assist them in carring out their health plans. Effective Integrative Medicine requires most patients to dramatically change their “lifestyle” to improve their health and wellbeing. This means change, and we all know that “change” is one of the hardest challenges a person will ever face. Thinking that patients will be able to make these changes on their own is the biggest mistake that most doctors make…and the biggest reason why compliance with a doctor’s care plan is usually really low.
Getting people to break old patterns and establish new healthy ones is not an easy task to accomplish. It requires significant education, encouragement, and follow up. Patients will have lots of questions and will need support along the way. The patient will need someone to hold them accountable and teach them what they need to know about all of the positive changes they are trying to make. They will need guidance on how to implement the doctors requested changes and education on which nutritional supplements they should take to benefit their health and well being. A small change to someones diet (like going Gluten Free) impacts more than just the patients shopping habits. This change impacts the patients entire family, including their friends and loved ones. They will struggle with knowing what to buy, what to eat, where to eat, how to integrate this it into their lives, and sometimes this leaves patients feeling alone and with little support.
A Lifestyle Education program will hire and train Lifestyle Educators who become the midlevel support that your patients need. This person will become part of your staff and meet with patients regularly to help them carry out the doctor’s care plans and lifestyle change protocol. IMCG will find qualified candidates, train them, and help integrate them into your practice. The Lifestyle Education program will begin to transform the health of your patients and create a new source of revenue for your clinic.