During this fifth year (2018) in publishing The Future of Coaching we made the unprecedented decision to devote three of the four issues to coaching in one sector of society: health care. The first two issues focused on the coaching of healthcare professionals (especially physicians). In this fourth issue, we look at health-related coaching from a different perspective—that of those who are the recipient of information and treatment in the domain of health.
We see great opportunities, challenges and benefits associated with what we are calling “health-based coaching.” There are great opportunities to be found in complementing the treatment, amelioration and prevention services being offered by healthcare professionals. There are many ways in which we, as professional coaches, can contribute to the dialogue about where healthcare services should be directed in the near future—a fundamental concern that is being articulated in communities throughout the world. These opportunities have already been acknowledged in the professional coaching community. Many health coaching training programs have been established, and there are even at least two organizations that certify health coaches: the International Consortium for Health and Wellness Coaching (that we are featuring in this issue) and the National Society of Health Coaches.
While many of the current health-based coach training programs focus on assisting clients in sustaining wellness, preventing illness and injury, and successfully recovering from illness and injury, there is much more to be done – and this issue of Future of Coaching points to the potential future for health-based coaching. We offer an expanded perspective on health-based coaching by identifying the multiple levels at which health-based coaches can operate. We also frame our analysis of health-based coaching in a systemic manner—noting that coaches can not only serve their clients with regard to health-related issues but also help enhance the relationship established between their coaching clients and the healthcare professionals with whom their client interacts. Research shows health-based coaching creates a platform for more effective patient engagement.
This, in turn, influences the way in which the caregivers themselves are providing the care. Burnout among caregivers—physicians, nurses and others—affects patient care quality. In turn, patient attitudes regarding the care they are receiving and the behavior they exhibit during their interaction with caregivers influences the extent of burnout. It is a highly interactive process—a vicious cycle. The burnout challenge for caregivers is common enough that the National Academy of Medicine formed the Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience. We suggest our coaching clients can also experience “burnout” regarding the care they are receiving (or not receiving). With health-based coaching, we can assist our clients in reducing this burnout – and can indirectly have an impact on the burnout of the caregivers. A perfect (positive) storm – a virtuous cycle!
There are so many other complementary purposes for health-based coaching, some of which our authors address in this issue. They could be small but significant shifts in habit—say, for changing diets for diabetics and those with depression, or implementing patient conducted physical exercise or therapy for stroke and myocardial infarction patients. They can be addressing potentially existential questions—like the issues of identity which sometimes arise when health concerns change the way people interact with others (such as the onset of significant hearing loss) or their environment. From accountability, to perspective taking, to redefining personal relationships, there are many, many highly useful and impactful tools in the coaches’ toolbox.
In this issue, as in the case of our first two issues of 2018 Future of Coaching, we are assisted quite knowledgably and ably by our colleague, Margaret Cary. She provides a unique perspective as a physician and as someone who has been an advocate for new healthcare policies and improved training and education of healthcare professionals.
We begin by offering several road maps for a health-based coaching strategy. The first road map describes a four-tier approach to health-based coaching that is presented by one of us (WB). It is based on a metaphor offered by Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones of the American Public Health Organization and concerns treatment, amelioration and two levels of prevention.
On the Cliff’s Edge: Four Tiers of Health-Based Coaching
The second road map is provided by Gay Teurman (a clinical and health psychologist) and one of us (WB). It surveys many of the dimensions of health-based coaching and wellness—ranging from biological factors to such health-habit factors as nutrition and sleep. A diverse set of bodily functions (including those provided by the brain and gut) are explored as related to health-based coaching.
Health-Based Coaching: The Many Dimensions
We provide a third essay that focuses on the emerging professionalization of health and wellness coaching. The authors, Frank Ardito and Leigh-Ann Webster describe the formation of the aforementioned International Consortium for Health and Wellness Coaching, while pointing toward the future of this emerging area of professional coaching.
The Professionalization of Health and Wellness Coaching
Our fourth essay points directly to one of the major forces driving the emergence of health-based coaching: a focus in the healthcare community on wellness. Petra Platzer describes the illness-wellness continuum and shows what a focus on wellness looks like and how this focus can be engaged in working with both the providers and recipients of healthcare services.
Focusing on Wellness: A Vital Shift for Improving our Health and Wellbeing
We bring to this issue of the Future of Coaching an article that was first published by the Library in 2013, Written by Joyce Odidison, it concerns coaching to a specific aspect of the wellness challenge. Odidison writes about interpersonal wellness and offers a systemic model of wellness that complements Petra Platzer’s presentation.
Interpersonal Wellness Coaching
In the sixth essay we direct attention to yet another force that is driving the emergence of health-based coaching. This is the evolution of work-life models and their application to coaching practices. Laura Mendelow and Ann Deaton identify four stages of work-life, as well as the upsides, downsides and key coaching questions associated with exploration of work-life issues.
The “Work-Life” Evolution: Understanding the Past to Help Your Clients Navigate the Future
Our seventh and eighth essay move into the heart of the matter with regard to the provision of coaching to clients facing major health challenges. Our seventh essay is written by a widely-respected professional coach, Judith Glaser, who writes about her own battle with cancer through the engagement of health-oriented conversations. This essay was first published in 2016. Judith offers a profound statement about health and healing: She sustained a high quality of life for many years based in part on the “miraculous” role played by coach-based conversations. Judith Glaser passed away in 2018 (she will be celebrated by the Library of Professional Coaching in 2019 through posthumous awarding to her of the Lee Salmon Award for exceptional service to the professional coaching community).
Miracles Do Happen! The DNA of Healthy Conversations
The eighth essay provides a compelling case study of how a team of professional coaches (who had worked primarily in the area of leadership and team development) found that their coaching strategies could be effectively applied when working with breast cancer patients. Written by Miguel Morgan, this essay provides us with a brief blueprint about how one might address health-related issues within an organizational setting.
Breast Cancer and Coaching: An Experience of Great Value
We conclude this issue of the Future of Coaching with an item from our tool box (a frequent entry in our digital magazine). In this issue, the tool is “Managing Life Transitions.” It builds on the classic study of life change and health conducted by Richard Rahe and his colleagues. A Life-Change Scale is provided along with a Life Transition Grid and a list of strategies for managing major life transitions.
Managing Life Transitions: A Coaching Tool
We hope that you find this excursion through the emerging and growing landscape of health-based coaching to be both enlightening and motivating. This might be a domain of professional coaching in which you want to be engaged!
Willian Bergquist/ Co-Editor
Bill Carrier/ Co-Editor
Margaret Cary/ Guest Co-Editor