Health Coach (Health and Wellness Coach)

What is a health coach?

A health coach (sometimes called a health and wellness coach) is your personal health guide, mentor and supporter. They help you make lifestyle changes to improve your physical and emotional health. Your primary care provider may suggest working with a health coach to support you in reaching certain goals. Or you might decide to sign up for health coaching through a workplace wellness program.

No matter how you get started, health coaches help you stay accountable as you make meaningful changes related to:

• Physical activity.
• Nutrition.
• Weight management.
• Stress management.
• Smoking and other forms of tobacco use.
• Sleep.

If one of those areas is out of balance, the others may be as well. If you’re not getting enough sleep, you might not have the energy to work out or focus on meal planning. Combined, it might feel like too much to solve. Together with your health coach, you’ll sort out where to start and find ways to make small changes that grow over time.

What does a health coach do?

A health coach helps you set reasonable goals and develop a plan for reaching them. They also help you figure out what might keep you from reaching those goals. For example, maybe you don’t think you’re capable of making the changes your doctor is suggesting. Or maybe you don’t think any changes you make will matter. Perhaps you’re working two jobs and can’t imagine squeezing anything else into your day.

Your health coach helps you take a look at all the factors that might be affecting your health-related behaviors. And together, you come up with a manageable plan for working toward your goals.

Your health coach regularly checks in with you through email, phone, virtually or in-person meetings, usually over the course of at least three months. During these conversations, your coach asks questions to get you thinking about how you can overcome challenges.

For example, say your primary care provider has suggested you eat more fruits and vegetables. A health coach might start by asking questions like:

• On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most, how important is it for you to make this change?
• What feels reasonable for you?
• What’s blocking you or what challenges might you face in following through?
• What’s your home life like?
• What plan can we put together to help you have more fruits and vegetables?

Your health coach won’t tell you what to do. That’s not what health coaching is about. Instead, they’ll help you reflect on your current situation and guide you toward making changes that feel right to you.

Addressing barriers

Health coaches also recognize that personal choices are just one piece of the puzzle. Simply wanting to eat more fruits and veggies isn’t enough to make it happen. You might have other factors in your life — called social determinants of health — that affect your food choices and many other choices related to your health. And it can be very hard to overcome these barriers.

For example, you might have limited access to nutritious foods (food insecurity). Or maybe there aren’t sidewalks on your street, so popping outside for a quick walk isn’t a safe option. Perhaps you don’t have access to reliable childcare, so it’s hard to make self-care a priority.

Your health coach may suggest resources to help manage these factors so they have less of an impact on your health. Keep in mind that your health coach’s goal is to support you. Their role isn’t to cast judgment or blame. Having open and honest conversations with your health coach about what’s going on in your life can help them find and offer the best solutions.

What are the potential benefits of health coaching?

Working with a health and wellness coach may help you:

• Recognize your strengths.
• Use your strengths to reach goals.
• Believe in yourself and your ability to make changes (self-efficacy).
• Develop a plan you feel good about sticking with.

But the benefits extend beyond your attitudes and beliefs. Research shows that health coaching can lead to measurable improvements in things like:

• Blood pressure.
• Cholesterol levels.
• Blood sugar levels.
• Body weight.
• Aerobic fitness.

These benefits can vary according to the health coaching program. You’ll typically get the most benefits out of an evidence-based health coaching program. This means scientific research proves the program works. In general, this is what you can get through your primary care provider’s office or a workplace wellness program. Privately hired coaches may or may not use evidence-based practices.

How can I become a health coach?

There are two main steps to becoming a certified health coach:

• Complete health coach training.
• Pass an exam to earn your health coach certification.

In the U.S., several professional organizations set standards for health coach training and certification. Here are some examples:

• National Society of Health Coaches (NSHC). The NSHC provides training for clinicians, or people who already have a license to practice healthcare (like nurses, dietitians and social workers). After completing the training program, you’re qualified to take an exam to earn the Certified Health Coach (CHC) credential.
• National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching (NBHWC). This organization oversees training for non-clinicians. This means you can enter the health coaching field without having a healthcare license. But the NBHWC ensures that the training you receive is rigorous and reputable. They keep a list of approved training programs. You must complete one of these programs to qualify to take the NBHWC National Board Certification Exam. If you pass the exam, you earn the National Board Certified-Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) credential.
• American Holistic Nurses Credentialing Corporation (AHNCC). The AHNCC offers an exam specifically for nurses to take to get certified as a nurse coach. Registered nurses (RNs) can earn either the Nurse Coach Board Certified (NC-BC®) credential or the Health and Wellness Nurse Coach Board Certified (HWNC-BC®) credential.

How do I choose a health coach?

There aren’t U.S. government regulations for who can call themselves a health coach (or any variation of the term). This means someone might go by the title of health coach or health and wellness coach and sell their services without having proper training. Health coaches available through your doctor’s office or workplace are more likely to be reputable and reliable. But if you’re shopping around on your own, it can be hard to know who to choose.

Here are some questions to ask if you’re hiring a health coach on your own:

• What training do you have?
• What professional certifications do you have?
• What’s your scope of practice? (This refers to the services a health coach can legally provide.)
• Can you share a list of references for me to contact?
• What evidence-based research do you use to guide your approach to coaching?

If you feel uncomfortable with any of the responses you receive or if someone is unwilling to share information, you may consider looking elsewhere. You can also check the verification/directory pages of professional organizations (like the NBHWC or others listed above). These pages allow you to search for health coaches and confirm someone’s credentials.

How is a health coach different from my other healthcare providers?

A health coach can be a great complement to working with other healthcare providers, such as your:

• Primary care provider.
• Dietitian.
• Physical therapist.
• Counselor.

While these other providers may offer medical recommendations and treatment plans, a health coach helps focus on the behaviors it takes to put those plans into action.

A health coach specializes in behavior change, helping you:

• Build problem-solving skills.
• Build coping skills.
• Develop action steps to achieve your health goals.

With the right permission, your health coach can work collaboratively between you and your healthcare team.

What is a nurse health coach?

A nurse health coach is a registered nurse (RN) who completes additional training in the nurse coaching field. They learn strategies for coaching people and supporting them in changing their behaviors. Nurse health coaches work in a wide range of settings, including hospitals and corporations.