Health coaching: a scientifically-validated approach to greater health and well-being
Leveraging science
The scientific method is a powerful way to observe and study the world. It enables us to validate observations, generalize patterns, create models and understand ourselves and our environment in a way that transcends our innate capacity.
Delivering scientifically-validated coaching and sharing our current understanding of aging and longevity are key to the services I provide with Catbird Wellness.
While I don’t believe Science has the answer to all problems, I was drawn to coaching because it is an evidence-based intervention. Coaching is a discipline that is studied so that we know what works and what doesn’t.
I apply the techniques of coaching that have been shown to lead to sustainable change.
How efficient is coaching?
The outcomes of health coaching are continuously being evaluated and published in medical journals. Health coaching is an evidence-based intervention that is focused on lifestyle and behavior.
In a study in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, health coaching was shown to lead to greater weight loss in obese patients compared to patients who did not receive coaching.
Another study found that patients who worked with a professional health coach or a peer lost an average of more than 9% of their body weight compared to 6% of those who worked with a mentor. At least 50% were able to lose 10% or more of their body weight. That is highly significant because this amount of weight loss has been shown to reduce the risk of numerous obesity-related diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Only 17% of those who did not work with a health coach were able to achieve weight loss of 10 percent or more.
Patients who worked with a health coach were almost 3X as likely to lose 10% or more of their body weight.
In a study in the International Journal of Obesity, researchers looked at habit formation and habit reversal for weight loss. At 12 weeks, the habit formation group had lost an average of 7 pounds and the habit reversal group had lost an average of 6.4 pounds, compared to weight-listed controls who lost less than one pound.
At 12 months, the habit formation group lost an additional 5 pounds on average, and the habit reversal group lost an additional 3.7 pounds, and 65% of the group that was coached, both habit formation and habit reversal, had lost more than 5 percent of their body weight: a clinically significant amount.
Participants who were coached with habit formation techniques lost 7X as much weight as those who were not coached.
A study in JAMA Internal Medicine found that health coaching is more effective in reducing cholesterol than standard care. It is also effective for reducing blood pressure, body weight, body mass index, and dietary intake of total fat and saturated fat, and increasing intake of fiber. They also found that coaching helped with self-reported walking for exercise, well-being, mood, and symptoms of chest pain and breathlessness in patients with heart disease six months after hospitalization.
Health coaching is more effective in reducing cholesterol than standard care.
A study on smoking cessation found that 32% of people who had a health coach quit smoking compared to just 18% of people without health coaches.
A study in the American Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine looked at health coaching and rates of rehospitalization for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. They found that health coaching reduced rehospitalizations by 91% in the first month, 63% at three months, 57% at six months, and 40% at the end of one year. They also found that disease-specific quality of life improved significantly in the health coaching group.
A study of health coaching in the setting of nursing homes found that health coaching improved self-efficacy and enhanced quality of life in the nursing home residents with chronic health conditions who also had mild-to-moderate cognitive impairment.
A study in the Journal of Reproductive Biomedicine Online found that health coaching resulted in increased rates of conception in both fertile couples and those who had been previously diagnosed as infertile.
More about health coaching:
https://kresserinstitute.com/behavior-change-agents-how-health-coaches-help-clients-change/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/health-coaching-is-effective-should-you-try-it-2020040819444
https://www.instituteofcoaching.org/resources/introduction-health-and-wellness-coaching
Why work with a health coach?
EVERYDAY HEALTH
Feeling healthy looks completely different from one person to another. Each one of us has different needs, depending on age, health status, activity level, …
What does it look like for you? That is the question at the heart of the coaching relationship: as your health coach, I partner with you so we can create a truly personalized health and wellness plan, develop strategies that fit your lifestyle and bring your unique personality to the process.
As your health coach I help you transform, in a way that you enjoy and that you get to create. Coaching is your playground
By holding a space for you to figure things out, I guide you in understanding what being healthy takes day by day and what it looks like for you.
HACKING CHANGE
We all KNOW that it would be better for us to eat well, exercise regularly, stop smoking, practice mindfulness, the list goes on. If knowing was enough, we would all be fit, strong and free of disease. But that takes some change: new habits, new mindsets, new strategies.
This is all about change. Change is a process. Change is hard. But change can be hacked: since there is a science to the way we change, why not partnering with someone who is an expert?
If change is climbing Mount Everest, I am your Sherpa: a guide in reaching new peaks.
And once you have reached new peaks, nobody can take that away. Because health coaching is rooted in behavioral psychology and motivational interviewing, it produces LASTING change.
“Coaches help people overcome the struggle, and build resources such as self-empathy, self-motivation, self-awareness, mindfulness, new insights and perspectives, confidence, optimism, and resilience, and make changes that last. Their new lifestyles become embedded into who they are.”
From Institute of coaching
I am trained to unearth your deepest motivation and sense of purpose to fuel change that is meaningful to you, no matter what the change is.
My job is to make your “why” loud and clear, spend time to help you articulate what you really want, what truly matters to you and what you’re excelling at, so that your motivation doesn’t fail you and you stand confident in the face of obstacles.
Coaching takes you from KNOWING what’s good for you to DOING what’s good for you, and from DOING to ENJOYING.
The best short-cut from current state to ideal health and wellbeing is working with a health coach.
