Grassroots to Greatness: Building a Lifestyle Medicine Movement from Any Role

Presentation Summary: Lifestyle medicine has emerged as a critical approach to transforming healthcare by preventing, treating, and reversing chronic disease through evidence-based interventions. However, many healthcare professionals find themselves unsure of how to start implementing lifestyle medicine practices within their organizations, particularly in non-clinical roles. This session, “Grassroots to Greatness: Building a Lifestyle Medicine Movement from Any Role,” will empower healthcare professionals from all backgrounds to become agents of change, driving the integration of lifestyle medicine within their organizations, regardless of their job title or initial responsibilities. Michelle Crawford, a seasoned wellness leader and advocate for lifestyle medicine, will share her unconventional journey from an information systems project manager to becoming the Manager of Employee Health and Wellness at Lakeland Regional Health. Drawing on her personal transformation, Michelle will illustrate how individuals in non-clinical roles can initiate lifestyle medicine efforts in medium-to-large organizations, even without the support of a dedicated clinical team or significant budget.

Attendees will learn how to assess the readiness of their organization, identify key stakeholders, and build coalitions to drive change. Michelle will share practical strategies for engaging healthcare executives, wellness teams, physicians, and allied health professionals to establish a collaborative, sustainable lifestyle medicine program. The session will also highlight the importance of leveraging internal workplace wellness initiatives as a starting point—offering practical, low-cost or free resources, tools, and strategies to make lifestyle medicine accessible without needing reimbursement structures. The session will include interactive elements, such as small group discussions and activities designed to help attendees map out their next steps for implementing lifestyle medicine. These activities will focus on identifying organizational champions, creating a stakeholder map, and brainstorming low-cost wellness initiatives that could be piloted within the workplace. By the end of this session, participants will have the tools, resources, and inspiration needed to begin their own grassroots movement for lifestyle medicine within their healthcare organizations. Whether they are doctors, nurses, wellness coaches, or healthcare executives, attendees will leave equipped to drive change and make a lasting impact on the health of their colleagues and the patients they serve.

This session is ideal for healthcare professionals across all roles who are passionate about making a difference but don’t know where to start. Whether they are new to lifestyle medicine or have some experience, this session will provide them with the practical knowledge, strategies, and confidence to begin implementing lifestyle medicine in their organization today.