What is the evidence?
There is growing evidence for health coaching in the UK as an innovation. In the USA it is a profession with standards, accreditation and a stronger research base.
Evaluations show that health coaching can produce positive effects on:
- Adoption of healthy behaviours, improving physical activity, weight management, BMI, HBA1c and dietary fat
- People's motivation to self-manage, patient activation and self-efficacy
- Patient satisfaction and quality of life
- Savings including about £3.6 million on a rehabilitation ward, £12.5K per physio and £1.5k per person in two other settings
- Staff satisfaction, resilience, leadership and culture of services
Health coaching works best for those most in need at low levels of activation and is a useful adjunct in cancer, CVD and diabetes pathways.
