RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Health and Wellness Coaching has been shown to enhance treatment outcomes in the primary care setting. However, little is known about the experience and perceptions of patients who worked with a wellness coach as an integrated member of their primary health-care team. OBJECTIVE: This project assessed patients' experience and obtained their perceptions on barriers and facilitators to participation in a primary care-based wellness coaching program. METHOD: A survey was mailed to 99 primary care patients with prediabetes who participated in a 12-week wellness coaching program. RESULTS: Sixty-two (63%) completed the survey; responders felt that participation in the wellness coaching program helped move them toward healthier lifestyle behavior and created a personal vision of wellness. Major themes associated with participation were supportive coaching relationship, increased self-accountability, increased goal-setting, and healthy behavior strategies. No significant barrier to participation was reported. CONCLUSION: Participants reported highly positive experience with the program; how to best integrate health and wellness coaching into the primary care setting needs to be explored.
RESUMO
This single arm prospective study assessed the impact of individualized wellness coaching intervention for primary care patients with prediabetes on self-reported changes in physical activity level and food choices. Five hundred sixty adult patients 18â¯years and older with prediabetes, seen in primary care clinic, were invited to participate in 12â¯weeks wellness coaching sessions delivered by certified coaches. Responses from questionnaires at baseline, 6 and 12â¯weeks were analyzed. Of 168 consented patients, 99 completed at least one coaching session; majority was elderly, female, overweight or obese. At baseline, 50% had <60â¯min aerobic exercise/week. At 6 and 12â¯weeks, average aerobic exercise time significantly increased from 117â¯min to 166 and 199â¯min respectively. Effect was sustained at 24â¯weeks. Success in making healthy eating choices also statistically improved from baseline. Significant effects on both activity level and eating behavior persisted even after adjusting for age, sex and baseline glucose/A1c values. Secondary outcomes of self-efficacy and quality of life likewise showed significant improvement. Results suggest that integration of wellness coaching in primary care practice among individuals at high risk for diabetes is feasible and may be useful as part of diabetes prevention management strategies in target populations. Future randomized clinical trials are needed to further explore this issue.