Lifestyle Medicine Center Increases Support to Rural Communities in Australia

The ELIA Lifestyle Medicine Centre, based at Sydney Adventist Hospital, has recently extended its services to those living in rural communities in New South Wales, Australia. ELIA is an acronym for Empowering Lifestyle Innovation & Advocates.

Center medical director Andrea Matthews highlighted the importance of accessible health services for rural residents. “Access to health services is a major issue complicated by barriers of distance, infrastructure, lack of resources, and funding,” she said. “One of the positive outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the introduction of more accessible telehealth services, providing specialized care for patients and helping take the pressure off local clinicians.”

Bob,* a rural resident, discovered the ELIA Lifestyle Medicine Centre through a brochure titled “Looking for new ways to treat diabetes?” He found the brochure on his mother’s meal tray while she was a patient at Sydney Adventist Hospital. Having been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a few years earlier, Bob was frustrated with the cycle of adding more medications and managing additional health complications.

At ELIA, Bob experienced a refreshing approach to health care. “I had been to see other specialists and dietitians before, but they just wanted you out the door,” he said. “Here, it was the first time I felt heard, and what they were saying made sense. I knew I could give it a go.”

After an initial visit to the clinic at Sydney Adventist Hospital, where he received assessments and an individualized plan, Bob was able to access telehealth services upon returning home. By embracing more whole foods, increasing plant-based proteins, cutting out processed foods and take-out food, and incorporating more movement in his day, Bob began his journey to better health. He continues to visit the clinic every few weeks as part of the ELIA 12-week Diabetes Clinical Program, which leaves him feeling “inspired, empowered, and supported.”

The ELIA Lifestyle Medicine Centre provides both individual appointments and 12-week clinical programs. They include the ELIA 12-week Diabetes Clinical Program, which caters to those with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes and anyone with a strong family history of diabetes interested in preventing it; and the ELIA 12-week Breast Cancer Clinical Program, which caters to those patients diagnosed with or at high risk of breast cancer.

“We are seeing a growing demand for our wholistic approach to prevent, treat, and in some cases, remit chronic disease outside Sydney and as far as Queensland, as patients are seeking a team of lifestyle medicine experts who will journey with them to make positive behavioral changes to achieve their health goals,” said ELIA Wellness executive director Geraldine Przybylko.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 28 percent of the population, about seven million people, live in rural and remote communities of Australia, where health outcomes are often poorer compared to their city counterparts.

The ELIA Lifestyle Medicine Centre is an initiative of Adventist Health at the South Pacific Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The original version of this story was posted by Adventist Record.

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* Name changed to protect identity.