Abstract
BackgroundLifestyle medicine is the science and application of healthy lifestyles as interventions for the prevention and treatment of disease, and has gained significant momentum as a specialty in recent years. College is a critical time for maintenance and acquisition of healthy habits. Longer-term, more intensive web-based and in-person lifestyle medicine interventions can have a positive effect. Students who are exposed to components of lifestyle medicine in their education have improvements in their health behaviors. A semester-long undergraduate course focused on lifestyle medicine can be a useful intervention to help adopt and sustain healthy habits.ObjectiveTo describe a novel, evidence based curriculum for a course teaching the concepts of Lifestyle Medicine based on a web-based course offered at the Harvard Extension School.MethodsThe course was delivered in a web-based format. The Lifestyle Medicine course used evidence based principles to guide students toward a “coach approach” to behavior change, increasing their self-efficacy regarding various lifestyle-related preventive behaviors. Students are made to understand the cultural trends and national guidelines that have shaped lifestyle medicine recommendations relating to behaviors. They are encouraged to engage in behavior change. Course topics include physical activity, nutrition, addiction, sleep, stress, and lifestyle coaching and counseling. The course addressed all of the American College of Preventive Medicine/American College of Lifestyle Medicine competencies save for the competency of office systems and technologies to support lifestyle medicine counseling.ResultsThe course was well-received, earning a ranking of 4.9/5 at the school.ConclusionsA novel, semester-long course on Lifestyle Medicine at the Harvard Extension School is described. Student evaluations suggest the course was well-received. Further research is needed to evaluate whether such a course empowers students to adopt behavior changes.
Highlights
College Student Health and Lifestyle Medicine InterventionsCollege students are an important target audience for lifestyle medicine—a medical specialty focused on evidence-based interventions for improving healthy lifestyle behaviors encompassing diet, exercise, and wellness
Further research is needed to evaluate whether such a course empowers students to adopt behavior changes. (JMIR Med Educ 2017;3(2):e14) doi:10.2196/mededu
Given the obesity and diabetes epidemics in the United States and worldwide, teaching college students about healthy lifestyles can play an important role in preventing cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory disease
Summary
College Student Health and Lifestyle Medicine InterventionsCollege students are an important target audience for lifestyle medicine—a medical specialty focused on evidence-based interventions for improving healthy lifestyle behaviors encompassing diet, exercise, and wellness. In a different study examining the efficacy of a single 1-hour motivational intervention for college students on obesity, researchers found that students who participated in the intervention did not have significant body mass index (BMI) reductions at the 3-month follow-up when compared with control students [6]. They concluded that prolonged interventions may be necessary for a significant impact on student health. A semester-long undergraduate course focused on lifestyle medicine can be a useful intervention to help adopt and sustain healthy habits
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