ARH promotes lifestyle medicine as preventive care in Perry County

A free yoga class at The Grand on Main Street in Hazard gave Perry County residents a local doorway into ARH’s push for preventive care, as Appalachian Regional Healthcare used Lifestyle Medicine Awareness Week to connect daily habits with chronic disease prevention.

The class was scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, at The Grand, 621 Main St., and ARH said employees and community members were welcome. Behavioral health staff were on hand to share information about available services, while the event was meant to reflect the lifestyle medicine pillars of physical activity, stress management, positive social connection and sleep. ARH also linked the effort to a Hazard PAWS-itive Puppy event held the same day, where employees interacted with animals while learning about mental health resources.

The timing was not accidental. ARH launched its Lifestyle Medicine Service Line at the ARH Hazard Clinic on Jan. 22, 2026, and said the program was the first formal lifestyle medicine program in Kentucky and one of only a few at rural health systems nationwide. The service line is built around six pillars: nutrition, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoiding risky substances and positive social connection.

ARH said the program is designed to help prevent, manage and sometimes even reverse chronic conditions, including high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity. The health system said visits can be followed by in-person appointments, phone check-ins or telehealth, and that insurance is accepted. Referrals are welcome, but not required, a detail that matters in Perry County, where transportation, cost and access often shape whether preventive care is realistic or not.

The awareness week also stretched beyond Hazard. ARH said a chair-yoga session in Lexington on May 21 was livestreamed to employees across the system, and it pointed to employee gardens at Tug Valley ARH Regional Medical Center and McDowell ARH Hospital as another sign of how wellness is being built into the workplace. ARH’s broader community-health calendar has included chair yoga, health fairs, stroke screenings and family events across its Kentucky and West Virginia footprint, showing that the lifestyle-medicine effort is being used as a practical outreach tool rather than a slogan.