Although it is becoming more and more popular, wellness coaching is still largely unstudied as a method of enhancing health and wellbeing. Despite the fact that people frequently seek wellness coaching for general lifestyle benefits, the majority of published research has focused on results for particular medical issues including weight management and cardiovascular disease.
“People approach Mayo Clinic with the expectation that we will weigh them and prod them to walk more since the wellness coaches are located in the staff healthy living centre, which is devoted to exercise. However, during the wellness coaching process, people’s objectives frequently alter, making it about much more than just stress reduction, restful sleep, and relationships “explains Mayo Clinic campus in Minnesota clinical psychologist Matthew M. Clark, Ph.D., L.P.
Dr. Clark and colleagues conducted a single-arm cohort study of 100 Mayo workers who finished a 12-week in-person health coaching programme to learn more about the possible psychological advantages of wellness coaching.
The study’s main objectives were to look at possible improvements in depressive symptoms, perceived stress levels, physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual functioning, as well as quality of life (QOL). Examining the enduring effects of future advancements was the secondary goal.
The wellness coaching programme started with an introductory session lasting 60 to 120 minutes when participants’ strengths, problems, and personal objectives were discussed along with the tactics required to reach those goals. Participants and coaches addressed actions taken toward the goals and strategies for effectively continuing them over 11 follow-up sessions that lasted 30 to 60 minutes each.
improvement throughout the board
Results of the study, which were published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings in2014, showed that after 12 weeks, there had been substantial increases in all areas of quality of life, including the overall QOL, the five QOL dimensions, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress levels.
On a scale of 1 to 10, mean QOL measurements varied from 6 to 7.6 at baseline. Physical well-being had the largest impact size at 12 weeks (0.8), whereas spiritual well-being had the smallest effect size (0.4). The mean perceived stress level dropped from 14.3 at baseline to11.0, and the ratings for depressive symptoms were cut in half.
At 12 weeks, the proportion of individuals who had at least one troublesome symptom at baseline on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 had similarly decreased by half. The gains were still there during the 24-week follow-up, which is crucial.
The findings, according to Dr. Clark, are noteworthy for a number of reasons. One is the statistically notable and clinically significant improvement across all five QOL dimensions. Another is the potential for wellness coaching to contribute to formal stress-reduction programmes and integrated approaches to the treatment of depression.
He makes the point that as wellness coaching becomes more and more popular, so does the need for coach training and certification. The Mayo Clinic Wellness Coaching Training Program, which trains wellness coaches to establish trustworthy relationships, recognise client values and wants, and translate objectives into actions that bring about permanent change, was used to teach and certify all wellness coaches at the Mayo Clinic.
