AMA Healthier Life Steps®
A patient-physician partnership for a longer, healthier life
Take the Healthy Lifestyles Pledge.
Addressing Behavior Change in Patients With AMA Online Resources
Physicians and other health professionals: Learn about the resources and tools available for establishing and supporting healthy lifestyle goals with your patients. This online module examines: 1) barriers to health behavior counseling by clinicians, 2) evidence for the efficacy of health behavior counseling, 3) strategies to help patients successfully change poor lifestyle behaviors, and 4) how the AMA Healthier Life Steps® program can help patients improve their health behaviors. AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ and continuing nursing education credits are available.
CPT® Code Pocket Guide for Preventive Services
This online module is a companion to the AMA's pocket guide for preventive services. It takes viewers through the pocket guide with clinical examples. This module provides guidance for documentation and/or coding for staff and physicians in practices that provide preventive services for their patients. It makes it easy for you and your staff to determine the U.S. preventive service task force recommendations for beneficial preventive services with CPT and HCPCS codes. Counseling patients on lifestyle behaviors has been proven to improve health outcomes.
The AMA Healthier Life Steps® toolkit, with downloadable, printable materials and links to more resources, helps physicians counsel and assist their patients in improving their eating habits and physical activity levels, quitting smoking or tobacco use and reducing risky drinking.
Feedback about these materials is welcomed at healthier.lifesteps@ama-assn.org
Program overview for physicians and staff
To implement the program in your clinical practice, use this quick start guide
Patient self-assessment
For patients to fill out in waiting room
Patient action plan summary
Use to review your discussions with patients about healthier life steps they can take to improve their health, and the goals they agree to set
"Talking about weight with your patients"
Monograph that includes information on how to broach the often sensitive subjects of weight and obesity with patients
What specific behaviors are your patients ready to change? Download, print and share the appropriate action plans that offer steps and tips to help patients reach their goals of healthier living.
Healthy eating
Useful resources for patients on eating healthier
- US Department of Agriculture (USDA) ChooseMyPlate.gov
- US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Produce for Better Health Foundation
- Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
- American Heart Association
- American Cancer Society
Physical activity
Useful resources for patients on increasing physical activity
- US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- US Department of Health and Human Services
- President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition
- Shape Up America!
Reducing risking drinking
Useful resources for patients on reducing risky drinking
- Rethinking Drinking - Alcohol and your health
An online resource with tip sheets, drink calculator, graphic depictions of standard drinks and links to support groups.
Additional pamphlets about alcohol problems, cutting down, alcoholism in the family, alcohol and pregnancy, and which medicines are harmful to mix with alcohol are available (in English and Spanish) on the National Institutes of Health website.
AlcoholScreening.org is a free service of Join Together, a project of The Partnership at Drugfree.org and Boston University School of Public Health. AlcoholScreening.org helps individuals assess their own alcohol consumption patterns to determine if their drinking is likely to be harming their health or increasing their risk for future harm.
For local help for patients or a family members, check the Yellow Pages under alcoholism for treatment programs and self-help groups like Alcoholics Anonymous. Contact local health and social service departments for help in finding assistance or check the national Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator website.
Quitting smoking and tobacco use
Useful resources for patients on quitting smoking or tobacco use
- National Tobacco Quit Line 1-800-QUIT NOW
- Self-help materials
- Freedom from Smoking® Online
Free smoking cessation program from the American Lung Association - Quitnet® smoking cessation website (a small fee may apply)
Many local and state health departments offer free smoking cessation information. For smoking cessation support groups (and additional information), call:
- American Lung Association (800) LUNG-USA
- American Cancer Society (800) ACS-2345
- Your local or state health department or hospital for the program nearest you
If patients are not ready today to begin their quit smoking plan, there are some places they can get information on the health problems caused by smoking:
- American Lung Association (800) LUNG-USA
- American Heart Association (800) AHA-USA-1
- American Cancer Society (800) ACS-2345
The AMA Weigh What Matters app makes it easy to work with your patients to establish goals for weight, healthy eating, and physical activity. It also calculates their BMI score, and provides a mechanism to view progress reports they can email to you.
Available at the AMA iTunes store for Apple iPhone®, iPad®, iPod Touch® and for Android devices. Requires OS version 4.0 or later.
The AMA Healthier Life Steps® program offers a number of other resources to help physicians support their patients' efforts to improve their health behaviors. Physicians can have a powerful impact on their patients' health by serving as role models for healthy lifestyle choices and as community leaders. Additional resources on obesity are also provided.
The AMA Healthier Life Steps - A Physician's Guide to Personal Health toolkit is designed to help physicians support their personal efforts to live a healthier lifestyle and serve as role models for their patients. CME credit is available.
Help your patients make healthier choices fter they leave your office by promoting policies that support your patients' healthier lifestyles in their communities.
Obesity is one of the many conditions that can be prevented and better managed through lifestyle behaviors. Help your patients and their families get the information and resources they need to manage their weight and live healthier lives.
