Positive Health and Wellness Division
Election 2018
Biography:
Liana Lianov, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACLM
She chairs the Happiness Science and Positive Health (HSPH) Committee of American College of Lifestyle Medicine, which convened the inaugural Summit on Happiness Science in Health Care, hosted by Dell Medical School, in May 2018. At the summit, leaders in lifestyle medicine, health care innovation and positive psychology discussed strategies for integrating positive psychology and well-being interventions into health care. This work will culminate in a white paper making recommendations for next steps by key stakeholders, including the positive psychology community. The HSPH committee aims to disseminate the recommendations and offer ongoing national awareness and training programs to advance this cause.
Dr. Lianov consults on the implementation of innovative strategies for sustainable health behavior change, including emotional well-being programs based on positive psychology and neuroscience. She is the vice-chair of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine (leading the work to include questions on positive psychology and health in the certification exam). Also, she is a past president of ACLM and has served on the boards of both ACLM and the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM). Dr. Liana Lianov has advanced the lifestyle medicine movement in the US and internationally, including leading the first of its kind intensive lifestyle medicine curriculum. For this work, she received the 2015 Distinguished Service Award from ACPM. During her tenure as the American Medical Association’s Healthy Lifestyles Division Director, she forged initiatives to support physicians in helping patients build healthy habits. She is board certified in internal medicine and preventive medicine and completed a psychiatry fellowship.
Statement of Interest:
In support of my application for president-elect of the Positive Health and Wellness Division of IPPA, I am delighted to submit the following statement of purpose.
One interventional modality that is not well-integrated into health care and is underrepresented in health education/training programs is emotional well-being, based in the principles of positive psychology. Yet the evidence is mounting that it is a critical element for securing improved health outcomes—a key lever that can support health care systems in an era shifting towards value-based care.
Emotional well-being, not only provides the underpinnings for achieving and sustaining healthy habits, but also has a direct physiologic impact. The burgeoning science of positive psychology can be harnessed in total healthy lifestyles prescriptions. Moreover, physician and other health care worker burn-out is on the rise. Personal application of empirically-supported resilience interventions and empathetic clinical encounters based in positive psychology are crucial to support the health care workforce.
As chair of the Happiness Science and Positive Health Committee of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, in conjunction with Dell Medical School, I’m leading an effort to promote the integration of emotional well-being and positive psychology interventions into health care and medicine. We convened a successful summit of leaders in lifestyle medicine and positive psychology to discuss initial strategies to promote this integration. A white paper is forthcoming and will be submitted for publication—highlighting the roles of key stakeholders, including the positive psychology community. Taking on the position of President-Elect of the Positive Health and Wellness Division would provide an exciting opportunity to advance the goals of the HSPH Committee, as well as that of the Division—which are well-aligned—by facilitating a powerful partnership between these organizations. Potential goals of this work, refining on the existing goals of the Division, would be to:
1. Promote collaboration across relevant disciplines and organizations in health care and psychology
2. Highlight the existing empirical evidence on the impact of positive psychology interventions on resilience, health and longevity
3. Elevate attention to the relevance of positive psychology interventions on health outcomes
4. Facilitate translational research and make recommendations on new lines of research critical to the implementation of positive psychology in health care and health settings more broadly
5. Support the development and publication of key research across relevant leading national and international journals in health care and psychology
6. Recommend practical strategies and guidelines for implementing positive psychology interventions into health care
7. Identify emotional well-being terms and definitions that are meaningful and consistent for effective collaboration between the positive psychology and health care communities
8. Facilitate the development of standard measures of emotional well-being
9. Kick start programs to train health care providers/health workers, develop clinical tools, highlight resources, and translate the evidence for practical application in medicine and health care
10. Advance training and mentoring of students in positive psychology in the cross cutting topics of health and health care
11. Design and implement effective strategies for integrating positive psychology interventions into a variety of health care settings
12. Influence policies that promote the adoption into standards and guidelines the evidence uncovered in positive psychology translational research
The rationale for the critical need to promote work in the area of positive psychology and health includes:
1. Facilitating patients’ health behavior change requires positive psychology and emotional well-being approaches.
2. Positive psychology interventions have direct physiologic health impacts that need to be harnessed for effective health outcomes.
3. All patients need their emotional well-being addressed for quality of life.
4. Current “standard” clinical practices fall short of leveraging the full spectrum of evidence-based positive psychology science and neuroscience.
5. Providers need training, tools and support to implement positive psychology approaches. Yes, most comprehensive medical trainings and conferences devote minimal time to emotional well-being topics.
6. Evidence-based resources that address emotional well-being can be prescribed and provided through expanding technologies (such as telemedicine, mobile apps and other digital solutions) as part of total health prescriptions.
7. Effective solutions based on positive psychology principles are urgently needed to improve provider satisfaction, patient-provider relationships, and providers’ personal health.
8. Public health initiatives have the potential to be enhanced through positive psychology approaches in an era of new crises, such as the opioid epidemic, increasing alcohol use disorders in the elderly, and the anticipated leading public health issue of loneliness.
Clearly, collaboration between the fields of positive psychology and health/medicine has tremendous potential to advance both fields and address major issues in our society. I’d be honored to have the opportunity to lead this collaborative work, in the role of President-Elect and then President.
Hi Liana,
I have a few questions:
1. Spanning the gulf between research and practice is central to the Division. What would a future where this gap is bridged look like? How can the Division help move us all there?
2. What has been your best experience with the Positive Health and Wellness Division so far? (Could be a program, event, exchange, etc.)
3. Can you give an example of a time where you lead a team that created a successful outcome?
Hi Jenny: Thank you for your questions! Here are my responses:
1. The Division has members that are actively conducting research in and applying positive psychology and related principles to advance the science in this area, identify effective clinical and educational interventions, and promote well-being. We can outreach to researchers in the health care community with similar interests to offer our ideas, expertise and experience, and explore ways to collaborate. We have an opportunity to break down silos to promote mutual goals by engaging health workers/researchers with our Division. Specifically the field of lifestyle medicine is expanding rapidly, and its success depends on effective implementation of behavior change, positive psychology and related constructs. The Division could build and strengthen partnerships with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, Harvard’s Institute of Lifestyle Medicine and others. Lifestyle medicine leaders could be brought to IPPA conferences and expose our membership to exciting developments in health relevant to positive psychology and spark collaborative research. As one of the leaders in lifestyle medicine, I can help forge those partnerships.The future in which the research-practice gap is bridged would include seamless communication and collaboration of leaders in positive psychology and health care, when planning research endeavors, seeking funding, developing clinical training programs, educating future generations of scientists and leaders.
2.I have enjoyed attending the IPPA international conferences, which are amazing in the caliber of research presented, the opportunities to connect with leaders/colleagues, and the fun, invigorating discussions/activities provided. My very first IPPA conference was a number of years ago, in which I lead a round table discussion on positive psychology and health. I think that was before the Division existed. We had many more people show up than expected and had an energizing exchange. I realized the golden opportunities lie ahead in fostering that energy. At the time I was getting consumed with advancing the field of lifestyle medicine and saving the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (which almost “closed it doors”). I am glad that, after an awesome come-back of the College and recent wildfire-like spreading of lifestyle medicine internationally, I can turn my attention to the promoting the connection between the positive psychology community and health care/lifestyle medicine.
3. During my presidency at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, I needed to lead a small team in actions to save that organization financially and engage health providers in this field that was not well-known. The key to our success was to huddle and figure what our small professional community needed and wanted, Often the best answers to stumbling blocks of organizations come from listening to the constituents. At the time, members were desperate to connect and figure out how to set up financially viable practices, learn leading-edge skills, etc. We focused on what the membership wanted, and then through word of mouth, the College expanded significantly. We went from an annual conference attendance of around 150 to 800, and a membership of about 200 to over 2000 in about four years. People from around the globe started to contact us and wanted to get involved. It’s an inspiring story that I am glad I was able to experience and help lead.
Thanks again for your interest in learning more about me.
Warmly,
Liana
Hi Liana, thank you so much for your sustained interest in serving the positive psychology community! What do you feel are the most critical aspects of the Division member experience? In what ways can Divisions become even more effective in their work engaging members?
Thanks for your consideration!
L
Hi Leona: Thanks for the question.Having worked in various capacities (volunteer and paid) in a number of professional membership organizations, I’ve often been thinking about how to address the issue of member engagement in a busy world. I think these considerations apply to our Division. Ultimately, professionals join organizations to make connections with potential employers, research/career partners, mentors/role models, etc. and advance their careers. With so much information and so many opportunities to make connections online, organizations need to offer something more. Examples of “something more” can include making introductions to leaders in the field who can serve as mentors, identifying opportunities for collaboration and partnership through the “inside” track or “warm hand-offs” of vetted members. and offering programs/conferences in which members can show case their work and shine.It’s also crucial that when members express certain needs, that the organization makes sure members feel heard, understood and valued, even in circumstances when lack of resources or other barriers do not allow immediate solutions to such requests.
Thanks again,
Liana