Health Coaching

What is Health Coaching?
Health Coaching is not a program but is a system of evidence-based principles and techniques that have been built into a structure that guides health professionals in how to facilitate health behavior change in their patients or clients, for better health outcomes.

The processes actively identify and address behavioral, emotional, situational and cognitive barriers to change and build patient skills in decision making, problem solving and planning and skills for promoting and supporting health behaviour change. It serves as a link between Patient Education and Patient Self-Management, which combines motivational interviewing, goal-focused action planning, change management and problem-solving.

Fundamental Principles of Health Coaching

Health Practitioners as experts provide evidence-based treatment and lifestyle recommendations and help clients prioritize health goals. The clients are supported in considering their own preferences and life circumstances to choose how to implement treatment recommendations in their daily lives. Health Coaching has a health focus and embraces a “trial and error” approach, recognizing that “one size” does not fit all and success often requires trying different tactics to address inevitable barriers encountered along the way.

What are opportunities for learning Health Coaching?

Optimizing Health Coaching for Self-Management Training and Certification Program

Community of Practice

As a health practitioner, do you support patients/clients to…

Self-manage diabetes, hypertension, CODP or other chronic conditions?
Follow treatments, as prescribed?
Eat better, exercise regularly, quit smoking, or make other health behaviour changes?

What if you could do all of this with less time, less effort, and better outcomes!

The Institute for Optimizing Health Outcomes introduces the 5-Step Health Coaching Program!

The 5-Step Model is an effective and easy-to-follow framework bringing together evidence-based best practices, skills, and tools.

Why Self-Management?

About half of all Canadians live with one or more chronic conditions. While healthcare professionals take charge of acute conditions, on a daily basis patients manage the symptoms, treatments, emotions, and impact of their chronic conditions. They make lifestyle changes, such as diet, exercise, or stress management.

What is Health Coaching or Self-Management Support?

Healthcare professionals coach by providing patients with the knowledge, skills, strategies, and on-going support to engage them in self-management. As health coaches, they shift from an “expert” role of informing, directing, and deciding to a collaborative role of joint goal setting, action planning and problem solving. Health coaching can be carried out individually or in a group.

How do Health Practitioners become Health Coaches?

Health coaching is based on theories of self-efficacy, stages of change, and cognitive-behaviour therapy. Health coaches use motivational interviewing, solution-focused goal setting, action planning, and problem solving. They may gain competency through training in core skills and applying behavior change frameworks or models.

Who is health coaching?

Nurses, dietitians, health promotion specialists, physiotherapists, social workers, rehabilitation counselors, pharmacists, physicians, psychologists and other health professionals are all “doing” health coaching.

Laypersons may also learn health coaching skills and serve as peer mentors.

Where can healthcare professionals get training in health coaching?

The Institute for Optimizing Health Outcomes is a leading provider of evidence-based programs in self-management and health coaching for healthcare professionals and laypersons.

IOHO Programs for Self-Management
2012 Health Coaching Training Schedule

Coaching Health Management for Healthcare Professionals

The IOHO Coaching for Health Management (Self-Management Support) is a training and certification program for healthcare professionals. The program combines evidence-based best practices for health behaviour change into a comprehensive model for guiding healthcare professional on facilitating and supporting self-management.

Level 1 CORE Training Program (2-day)

Participants learn core health coaching skills, tools and techniques as well as the 5-Step Health Coaching Model. Core competencies include: reflective listening, assessing readiness to change, decisional balance, goal-focused action planning, and problem solving. One-day CORE Program is available for those with demonstrated competency in core skills. Course includes all materials and follow-up.

Cost: $895