Health coaching
SUPPORT IN MAKING CHANGE
Health coaching is a new profession, developed to meet a gap in our health care system. We go to our health care professionals, are told what we need to do, and then struggle to achieve our health goals. Health care professionals are frustrated with patient non-compliance, and patients are frustrated with appointment times, high costs and lack of support.
Health coaches are experts in behavior change with the time and skill help you figure out HOW to make the changes you want to improve your health .
Ideally, a health coach would be part of a medical team, but health coaching is still new on the scene. Medical professionals are still learning what health coaches do, and health insurance usually does not cover health coaching.
Today, chronic diseases are a major public health problem worldwide. In 2005, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 61 per cent of all deaths -- 35 million -- and 49 per cent of the global burden of disease were attributable to chronic diseases. By 2030, the proportion of total global deaths due to chronic diseases is expected to increase to 70 per cent and the global burden of disease to 56 per cent. World Health Organization
It’s a shame, because health coaches need jobs and patients need their support but our health care system has yet to catch up.
Health coaching is part of a broader paradigm shift in healthcare focusing on patient centered care. Health coaching is also part of the movement to transform health care from a reactive model that treats people once they are sick, to a proactive model focusing more on prevention and what keeps people well. This emphasis on reactive care is part of what makes our healthcare so very expensive. If we can help people prevent disease - and cope better with chronic disease - we can save immense amounts of money and suffering.
I was one of the first graduates of Duke University’s Center for Integrative Medicine Health Coach certification program - this was back in 2010-2011. It was kind of the wild west - and it kind of still is. Anyone can call themselves a health or wellness coach - there is no license. But we have made great progress in making it easier to identify who is a professionally trained health coach with the educational foundation and expertise required for quality coaching. The National Board of Health and Wellness Coaches (NBHWC.org) sets a national standard. NBHWC certified coches complete a NBHWC approved program and a board exam. If you are looking to hire a coach, consider if they are NBHWC certified. Ask about their training and experience. In my “deeper dive” section I go more in depth about coaching skills - any skilled coach will know what those are. When I speak about health coaches (also referred to as health and wellness coaches) I am referring to these professionally trained coaches.
I want health coaches to have jobs and make a living wage! But I also recognize that many people cannot afford to pay out of pocket. Hopefully we will get to where health coaches work in tandem with health care teams, so you see your health coach when you go to your doctor and you meet with them virtually or in person between doctor visits so they can support you in your health goals. There are some practices that do this but they are few and far between.
Other coaching programs do elements of what health coaches do. The Self Management Resource Center disease management programs (https://selfmanagementresource.com/) are great, and the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program and Diabetes Self-Management Program are often offered for free through the Area Agencies on Aging. The titles are not very enticing so they are often called “Living Well with…Diabetes/ Chronic Disease”). I was a Lay Leader and Master Trainer for these and the peer support is great as well. The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) is another option, focusing on modest weight loss through movement and food choices. It is sometimes covered by insurance and when I led this program at the YMCA (DPP coaches are call “Lifestyle Coaches”) the Y sometimes had scholarships for participants. These programs are sometimes led by Health Coaches but they are their own standalone platforms and curriculum. They are infused with some health coaching theory but are not the same as working with a professional health coach. You may see other similar programs - I hope we see more! There are many ways to support people in their wellness journey - and these programs offer valuable avenues of support. There are many ways, through private practice, public health, group coaching, and online coaching, that we can get quality health coaching to all!
My intent here is two-fold;
To share what quality health coaching is.
To share how you can use health coaching skills and concepts yourself.
Coaching skills and strategies that work for you
I am a professional health coach trained at Duke Integrative Medicine and Board certified by the National Board for Heath and Wellness Coaching. I have helped hundreds of clients achieve their health goals and learn coaching skills and strategies to help them the next time they face a behavior change challenge.
An Integrative Approach
An integrative approach to health encompasses the whole person and recognizes that many factors coalesce in defining good health. Health problems and their solutions are multifaceted, and an integrative approach better allows us to recognize and touch on all the moving parts. An integrative approach recognizes that our health goals do not reside in silos. Like diabetes, heat disease or pain, a chronic condition will affect more than one part of our lives.
Likewise one action can have multiple benefits. If stress and frustration at work contribute to a person’s high blood pressure taking a pill might help but won’t solve the problem at work. Finding ways to reduce or better cope with stress at work might help lower the need for medication or provide additional benefit. An integrative approach helps us look at our health with a bigger lens, considering all the parts that interrelate to create goo d health.
Check out the link below to view a video on how the wheel of health developed at Duke Integrative Medicine illustrates this whole person approach.
Duke Wheel of Health
WHO - https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/lifestyle-diseases-economic-burden-health-services