Health Coaching: Where Do We Go From Here?

Health coaching is going through a phase of rapid change, and it’s no

wonder why: confusion in the market abounds. The 2011 version of ShapeUp’s

href="http://www.shapeup.com/survey/">annual survey of corporate wellness

leaders cited high costs and low participation in association with health

coaching, but it also cited that health coaching can be effective for

managing high risk factors. Sample quotes from survey participants

follow:

• “We have done coaching for 2 years. In terms of high risk

  factors, we‘ve seen a savings of $869 per person per year for the 530 people

  who have been enrolled for 2 years. Telephonic coaching is difficult though,

  although for people who are struggling with a certain issue, this type of

  support can lead them to the next level.”

• “We utilize our own resources for coaching – myself, the nurses, etc.

  People need to feel comfortable talking to their coach.”

• “We can‘t tell if people are just checking the box so to speak to get

  incentives versus if this is something that is really useful and that they

  are learning from.”

• “How effective is coaching itself? Given the small number of

  participants, we pay a lot for it.”

• “We pulled the plug on telephonic health coaching—only some

  small percent respond. It‘s not a very motivating model. Our employees just

  don‘t like it. We‘ve thought about peer-to-peer coaching. We have plenty of

  people who have lost weight, why can‘t they be a support system for other

  people who are trying to do the same thing?”

Where does health coaching go from here? Is telephonic coaching losing

favor as an employee wellness component? If this is true, what are the other

options? If not, what role should it continue to play? And what does the

future of health coaching look like?

So many questions! Want to discuss some potential answers with industry

thought leaders and wellness peers? Join ShapeUp’s new

href="http://www.shapeup.com/lp/health-coaching-past-present-and-

future">Health Coaching: Past, Present, and Future webinar to discuss

these topics.

See you there!

wellness coaching, social coaching, peer coaching, health coaching