Integrative Health Coaching

A coach is a person who empowers, prompts, encourages, or trains. Health coaching is a burgeoning area that spans across many different fields. The overarching goal of health coaching is to facilitate patient health and well-being. From a general perspective, health coaches work with patient on self-care practices and wellness behaviors. This includes health education and health promotion concepts to empower the patient to reinforce maintenance of healthy behaviors and/or navigate behavior change strategies when appropriate. Key skills that enable health coaches to effectively work with patients include: motiviational interviewing, goal setting, assessment, as well as cultural awareness and sensitivity.

Integrative health coaching embraces a holistic approach to healthcare that recognizes the integration of mind, body, and spirit. An integrative health coach works with patients on self-care mapping/planning that draws together knowledge of alternative therapies with lifestyle choices and conventional medical options. Integrative health coaches include nurses, allied health professionals, social workers, alternative medicine practitioners, chaplains, and fitness instructors. Essentially, the integrative health coach aids the patient in navigating the myriad choices in the broader healthcare arena from the focal point of the coaches' own role as a healthcare professional or provider.