Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Feb 27:8:2164956119831226.
doi: 10.1177/2164956119831226. eCollection 2019.

Health and Wellness Coaching Implemented by Trainees: Impact in Worksite Wellness

Jared Blackwell  1 , Karen Gregory-Mercado  1 , Michael Collins  1 , Jose Guillen  2 , Christina Scribner  1 , Karen Moses  1
Affiliations

Health and Wellness Coaching Implemented by Trainees: Impact in Worksite Wellness

Jared Blackwell et al. Glob Adv Health Med. .

Erratum in

  • Corrigendum.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] Glob Adv Health Med. 2019 Apr 23;8:2164956119847784. doi: 10.1177/2164956119847784. eCollection 2019. Glob Adv Health Med. 2019. PMID: 31041145 Free PMC article.

Abstract

Background: Lifestyle change programs have demonstrated encouraging improvements in the overall well-being of participants in clinical, worksite, and university settings. However, the majority of published research utilizes accredited, professional health coaches. This study seeks to establish the efficacy of health and wellness coaching implemented by coaching trainees in a workplace/university framework.

Methods: University faculty, staff, and students were recruited (n = 74) to participate in an 8-week health and wellness coaching program comprised of 3 coaching sessions. The wellness coaches were undergraduate students enrolled in a university Health and Wellness Coaching practicum course. Participants reported satisfaction in 12 wellness dimensions. Their satisfaction scores were used as proxy to encourage them to focus their behavior change within 1 or more of 12 wellness dimensions. The self-reported wellness dimension scores were recorded at baseline, and subsequent changes in the selected dimension scores were evaluated. The control group received telephonic and video conference-based coaching, while the intervention group participants were also offered face-to-face coaching and social-embedded support.

Results: Participants most frequently selected to work on 2 of the 12-wellness dimensions. No differences between groups were found in the initial wellness scores. A statistical analysis was performed on dimensions with 20 or more responses to determine whether the intervention (social support), coaching session, and other variables had a significant impact. A mixed model adjusted on group, coaching session, coaching trainee, and participant was performed. The eating/nutrition and thinking wellness dimensions exhibited a significant positive change in wellness scores in both groups (P < .001 and P < .0143, respectively).

Discussion: An increase in eating/nutrition and thinking wellness scores in both groups suggests that the coaching trainees were effective in motivating change to boost participants' well-being. The results justify further research to evaluate the cost-effectiveness, approaches, and efficacy of coaching trainees in worksite wellness programs.

Keywords: health and wellness coaching; health dimensions; social embeddedness; trainees; university setting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Summary of the Self-Reported Wellness Raw Scores Across the 3 Coaching Sessions of the Control and Intervention Groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/costs/index.htm. [Online] Published April 2017. Accessed February 4, 2019.
    1. Lancha AH, Sforzo GA, Pereira-Lancha LO. Improving nutritional habits with no diet prescription details of a nutritional coaching process. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2018; 12:160–165. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sforzo GA, Kaye MP, Todorova I, et al. Compendium of the health and wellness coaching literature. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2017; 12:436–447. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Clark MM, Bradley KL, Jenkins SM, et al. Improvements in health behaviors, eating self-efficacy, and goal-setting skills following participation in wellness coaching. Am J Health Promot. 2016; 30(6):458–464. - PubMed
    1. Clark MM, Bradley KL, Jenkins SM, et al. The effectiveness of wellness coaching for improving quality of life. Mayo Clin Proc. 2014; 89(11):1537–1544. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources