ACLM and ACOEM launch workplace toolkit to help employers address chronic disease and improve workforce health

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.

ST. LOUIS, June 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- 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.

Download the toolkit quick start guide and comprehensive guidebook here.

About ACLM®: The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the nation's medical professional society advancing the field of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a redesigned, value-based and equitable health care delivery system, essential to achieving the Quintuple Aim and whole-person health. ACLM represents, advocates for, trains, certifies and equips its members to identify and eradicate the root cause of chronic disease by optimizing modifiable risk factors. ACLM is filling the gaping void of lifestyle medicine in medical education, providing more than 1.2 million hours of lifestyle medicine education to physicians and other health professionals since 2004, while also advancing research, clinical practice and reimbursement strategies.

About ACOEM: Founded in 1916, the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) is the nation's largest medical society dedicated to promoting the health of workers through preventive medicine, clinical care, research, and education. ACOEM is a physician-led professional society representing more than 3,000 physicians and other health care professionals specializing in occupational and environmental medicine (OEM). It serves as the pre-eminent organization championing the health of workers, the safety of workplaces, and the quality of environments. Its members practice in diverse settings—including hospitals, clinics, academic medical centers, industry, and government—and are engaged in developing positions and policies on critical issues in preventive, occupational, and environmental medicine. ACOEM also provides continuing medical education, professional development resources, and serves as a voice for physicians in health care policy discussions at the state and federal levels.

SOURCE American College of Lifestyle Medicine