Healthier Life Steps™ Program

Program description

This program provides background information and tools to help physicians support their patients’ efforts to change four key health behaviors: diet, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use.  The Physicians’ Guide describes the important role physicians play in fostering lifestyle change, and explains how physicians can implement strategies to assess patients’ readiness to change and how to counsel patients on making these changes.  The tool-kit provides a self-assessment questionnaire, action plans, progress tracking calendars, and a poster to help physicians help patients implement needed behavior changes.

Physicians' Guide (PDF, 291KB)

• CME credit available

Objectives
After completing this activity, participants should be able to:

• Utilize references about healthy lifestyles and behavior changes that impact patients’ lives
• Implement strategies to assess patients’ readiness to change poor lifestyle behaviors
• Counsel patients on lifestyle changes and provide action plans when appropriate

Accreditation statement
The American Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Designation statement
The American Medical Association designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.  Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

• Commitment to Change/Evaluation and Credit Claim Form

Tool-kit

• Patient self-assessment questionnaire (PDF, 210KB)
  Assess your patients’ readiness to change one or more key health behaviors with this short questionnaire.

• Action plans/tip Sheets
  Help your patients identify and change specific behaviors with these 4 action plans.
  • Healthy eating (PDF, 198KB)
  • Physical activity (PDF, 181KB)
  • Reducing risky drinking (PDF, 221KB)
  • Quitting smoking (PDF, 223KB)

• Progress tracking calendars
  Support your patients’ efforts to initiate and maintain healthier behaviors with these tracking calendars.
  • All healthy behaviors - summary calendar (PDF, 1MB)
  • Healthy eating (PDF, 106KB)
  • Physical activity (PDF, 109KB)
  • Reducing risky drinking (PDF, 106KB)
  • Quitting smoking (PDF, 108KB)

• Poster for physician offices (PDF, 1MB)
  Remind yourself, your office staff, and your patients of your partnership to improve your patients’ health.

Electronic versions of all materials will be available on CD soon, as will a limited number of hardcopies of the Action Plans and Progress Tracking Calendars.  To order, or for other questions or comments, please contact Healthier.LifeSteps@ama-assn.org.

The Healthier Life Steps™ materials can be reproduced or duplicated and distributed without charge for noncommercial purposes.  All copies must include the American Medical Association's copyright notice and contain no change in the content or format of the publication.  Any other uses require AMA's prior written consent.