A Palmerton doctor is among several recently honored by The Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine.

Louis Sportelli, DC, with a practice at 125 Delaware Ave. in Palmerton, received the Change Maker Award, which recognizes those who have advanced the field of integrative health and medicine through activism, advocacy or policy change.

A frequent lecturer, speaker and media spokesperson, he has dedicated his nearly 60-year career to chiropractic research and education.

For the past four years, Sportelli has served as president of the NCMIC Foundation, a nonprofit research and education organization, and was previously the president of NCMIC Group Inc., for two decades.

“That’s the way health care is moving; it’s moving toward an integration,” Sportelli said. “We’re finding that cooperation and the ability to integrate from the best of each of the fields has generated not only new and improved ideas, but also a much better approach to health care, I think health care was really a misnomer until we started to integrate.”

Sportelli added, “If anything, the pandemic that we’ve been through has really heightened the awareness of how we’ve had to focus on our health.”

“Integration, 30 years ago, it was a new word,” he said. “Today, it’s pretty much become the way health care professionals are looking at health care.”

Founded in 1978, the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine is the leading interprofessional organization for traditional, complementary and integrative health practitioners worldwide. In 2001, AIHM merged with the Academic Collaborative of Integrative Health. Together, they are working to advance integrative health on a global scale and transform health and wellness through education, leadership, collaboration, research and advocacy. For more information, visit aihm.org or follow @aihmglobal on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.