Health Coach Week 2017: Highlights on the Hill

We’ve made some incredible progress since we’ve started celebrating National Health and Wellness Coach Week, and each year just keeps getting better and better!

Our goal is to make Health Coaches not only a household name for those who seek guidance in positive wellness and lifestyle changes, but to champion this profession as an integral part of our overall health care system. This includes efforts in Washington D.C. to make health coaching a covered pre-tax expense, and to include it among preventative healthcare legislation and research initiatives.

Our Health Coach advocates have been busy on the Hill this past week, gathering support and sharing just how valuable Health Coaches will be in addressing preventable disease and reducing healthcare costs in the years to come.

Here’s the video we played at the Capitol Hill briefing.

IIN is the only health coaching program that supports these vital efforts for a healthier future and growing opportunities for Health Coaches around the world.

Here are more recent updates about our progress:

• Our Capitol Hill Briefing on Monday had 65 attendees who heard from IIN Health Coaches, medical professionals, and leaders in our field to drive home the point that Health Coaches are vital to lowering healthcare costs and improving wellness.

• Last year, we met with over 350 members of Congress and staff to introduce the Health and Wellness Coach Resolution (H. Res. 552), and have the Health Savings Act include health coaching as an allowable expense.

• Our Health Coach Resolution now has 13 cosponsors, and we expect introduction of the Senate resolution very soon. These pieces of legislation create recognition of your work and helps bring about truly meaningful positive change.

• Our House resolution just received its bill number, and was printed: H.Res.121. Here’s a link to the detailed info.

• On Thursday evening, we held an event at a DC public charter school for a wonderfully diverse group of about 35 parents and students that joined us for a mindfulness presentation from Integrative Nutrition graduate Sarah Chaplin, as well as a cooking demonstration. It was inspiring to see kids around the age of 5 excited about eating healthy and asking questions about which foods will make them strong and smart. We taught the kids and their parents how to make meals that cost less than $5 and are perfect for meal planning and prep since you can cook once and eat twice!  

Check out all the social media updates for #healthcoachweek on Facebook and Instagram.

And a very special thanks to our bipartisan allies in Congress who championed the Health and Wellness Coach Resolution – Rep. Markwayne Mullin [R-OK], Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham [D-NM], Rep. Tim Ryan [D-OH], Rep. Vern Buchanan [R-FL], Rep. Grace F. Napolitano [D-CA], Rep. Robin L. Kelly [D-IL], Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, [D-DC], Rep. Grace Meng [D-NY], Rep. Ed Perlmutter [D-CO], Rep. Scott H. Peters [D-CA], Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney [D-NY], and Rep. Peter A. DeFazio [D-OR].