The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) today announced the launch of Project Remission, a call to action to shift the goal of chronic disease care from symptom management to the possibility of achieving remission and health restoration.

Grounded in scientific evidence and real-world clinical practice, the project challenges the assumption that chronic disease should be treated as lifelong and progressive by demonstrating that addressing the root causes of disease through lifestyle interventions can lead to meaningful improvements in health outcomes.

The project highlights evidence and practical applications related to conditions that often share common underlying drivers, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity. With 90% of the nation's $5.3 trillion in annual healthcare spending tied to people living with chronic and mental health conditions, Project Remission underscores the urgent need for approaches that address root causes rather than simply manage disease over time.

The greatest failure in chronic disease care may be how little we ask about what's truly possible. The science is clear that remission may be achievable for some patients when we address the root causes of disease, resulting in better outcomes, lower costs and improved quality of life. Project Remission is a call to action for the medical community to think and move beyond simply managing disease and begin designing care around the possibility of restoring health."

John Findley, MD, CPE, ACLM CEO 

The project features educational content, clinical evidence, implementation resources, and examples of remission-focused care from organizations and clinicians working to improve outcomes through lifestyle medicine. Project Remission also offers practical frameworks and training that can help health systems translate research into routine clinical practice.

Project Remission expands on the March 2026 launch of Project Remission: A Lifestyle Medicine Approach to Type 2 Diabetes, a digital film series collaboration from ACLM and Content with Purpose that spotlights the ability of lifestyle medicine to reshape care for type 2 diabetes. The series featured clinicians, health systems and organizations integrating lifestyle medicine into real-world practice settings, as well as interviews with patients recounting their health journeys.

"Among people with type 2 diabetes, we have clear evidence that remission of conditions often considered permanent is possible, sometimes even for those with a long duration of disease," said ACLM Senior Director of Research and Quality Micaela Karlsen, PhD, MSPH. "Hypertension is a condition that responds rapidly to lifestyle interventions. And obesity is an example of how addressing underlying metabolic and lifestyle factors can influence multiple chronic conditions simultaneously. Project Remission provides an inspiring synthesis of this growing evidence with stories of lived experiences of patients and clinicians."