The Art and Science of Empowering People to Change

Dr. Beth Frates, MD, is a trained physiatrist and health and wellness coach with expertise in lifestyle medicine. She is an award-winning teacher at Harvard Medical School, where she is an Associate Professor, Part-Time. Frates is one of the first fellows of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and a pioneer in lifestyle medicine. She was voted president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) in August 2020 and served until 2024. She authored a lifestyle medicine syllabus, which can be downloaded through the ACLM website, to serve as a template for other instructors and professors. Frates co-authored The Lifestyle Medicine Handbook: An Introduction to the Power of Healthy Habits, which was ranked in the top 20 by Book Authority for medical books released in 2018. To accompany the syllabus and handbook, she also co-created Lifestyle Medicine 101, a full college curriculum with 12 weeks of PowerPoints and teacher's manual, which is free through the ACLM website. Frates co-authored The Teen Lifestyle Medicine Handbook, (October 2020), which when paired with the teen curriculum consisting of a teacher's manual and 12 PowerPoint decks can be used to teach and empower middle and high school students to adopt and sustain healthy habits. As director of wellness programming at the Stroke Institute for Research and Recovery at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, Frates created and implemented a 12-step wellness program, PAVING the Path to Wellness™ for patients and providers. Recently, she co-authored the book PAVING the Path to Wellness Workbook: A Guide to Thriving with a Healthy Body, Peaceful Mind and Joyful Heart. She co-authored The Lifestyle Medicine Pocket Guide and co-edited Nutrition Essentials for Healthcare and Empowering Behavior Change in Patients: Practical Strategies for Healthcare Professionals. Frates also has a lifestyle medicine consulting and coaching practice.

Tracie McCargo, PhD, is an author and consultant specializing in behavior change, health and wellness, and organizational leadership. She holds a PhD in organizational leadership and an ALM with a concentration in psychology from Harvard Extension School, in addition to an executive MBA. McCargo co-authored the book Empowering Behavior Change in Patients: Practical Strategies for the Healthcare Professional and serves as an editor for two international medical surveillance journals. Since 2016, McCargo has been actively involved in research and writing within the realms of lifestyle medicine, physical and rehabilitative medicine, and behavior change. Her work has been featured in numerous peer-reviewed journals, covering topics such as increasing knowledge and confidence in behavioral change, developing web-based lifestyle medicine curricula, and exploring the impact of body-mass index (BMI) on functional outcomes post-hip and knee replacements. Additionally, McCargo has investigated the effects of HIV on stroke recovery and delved into social change leadership and COVID-19 health disparities. Driven by her interest in disparities in mortality and morbidity among minority populations during the pandemic, McCargo recently focused on studying complex decision-making processes in crisis scenarios. Her research on nurse managers' experiences in allocating scarce resources during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the provider crisis decision-making model. This model highlights crucial factors for nurse leadership in crisis environments and offers insights to improve patient care and provider well-being. Beyond her academic pursuits, McCargo is deeply involved in supporting nonprofit organizations in the Atlanta, Georgia, community. She is dedicated to making a meaningful impact by promoting health, wellness, and higher education initiatives that benefit society as a whole.