It is our pleasure to serve as the ACSM topical representatives for Exercise is Medicine (EIM), which focuses on work examining the integration of physical activity into health settings and the referral of physically inactive patients to community-based resources. The World Congress on EIM formally starts with the Morris/Paffenbarger EIM Keynote Lecture (Wednesday, May 31st from 10:40-11:55 a.m.) given by Janet Fulton, Ph.D., FACSM on “The Evolving Science of Step Counts: What is my Device Telling me about my Health?” This keynote presentation will be followed by an update on the successful implementation of physical activity into the healthcare sector under The National Physical Activity Plan (Thursday, June 1st from 8:25-9:15 a.m.). In addition to these presentations, we would like to highlight three other sessions that may be of particular interest to conference attendees.  

The first is a highlighted symposium entitled, “Physical Activity & Age-Related Cognitive Function.” This translational symposium session, featuring experts in older adults and physical activity from the U.S., Europe, Australia, and Asia, is scheduled for Wednesday, May 31st from 3:45-5:45 p.m. The panel will discuss the latest research being conducted in the field of physical activity and aging, including the public health epidemiology of age-related cognitive decline and associations with physical activity, underlying biological mechanisms, and emerging evidence on the impact of both aerobic and strength/high intensity interventions on cognitive decline.  

The second tutorial lecture we would like to highlight is entitled, “Exercise is Medicine for Children and Adolescents: Experience in a Healthcare System.” This session, led by  ACSM Past-President Elizabeth Joy, M.D., FACSM, is scheduled for Tuesday, May 30th from 3:15 -4:05 p.m. The self-reported nature of the Physical Activity Vital Sign (PAVS) makes collecting information on physical activity levels in younger children challenging. Intermountain Healthcare developed and integrated a pediatric PAVS into the EHR as a part of clinical practice in 2016. This presentation will provide an overview of how physical activity is assessed in children and adolescents in pediatric care at Intermountain Health and describe the physical activity behaviors of these patients with respect to their demographic characteristics. 

The final tutorial lecture that we would like to highlight is entitled, “Collaborating from Clinics to Community: Advancing Health Equity through Physical Activity,” and features faculty from the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, as well as the Executive Director of the Eldon & Elsie Ward Family YMCA of Central Ohio. This session, scheduled for Thursday, June 1st (4:55 – 5:45 p.m.) will describe the process, outcomes, challenges, and successes of building out a physician referral platform in the electronic medical record and partnering directly with the YMCA to provide a community-based health education and exercise program in a community that has been underinvested in for many years due to structural racism. 

Other key sessions to keep an eye for include a symposium on the implementation of EIM in four different international health settings (Tuesday, May 30th, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.), symposiums describing the future role of exercise professionals working in coordination with physicians, multiple EIM On Campus sessions, and an EIM poster session (Wednesday, May 31st from 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.).

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