Health Coaches Go Mainstream

At last, a much needed wellness revolution is underway and gaining momentum. As the demand for more health information spreads, Health Coaches are increasingly being welcomed into the fold of the mainstream healthcare system as authorities in specialized care.

An article in Fox Business says of the burgeoning profession, "Demand for health coaches has grown exponentially, largely because research has found it's more effective to discuss a treatment plan with a patient than to simply prescribe a medicine and hope that they take it." (Check out the second-to-last paragraph, in which The Institute for Integrative Nutrition is mentioned by name!)

A Health Coach Training Program like ours can ensure expertise in nutrition, fitness, and emotional wellness. The key is prevention: counseling about proper nutrition can help stop a client’s emerging or chronic health condition from reaching a point that requires a doctor's attention. And since clients are usually enrolled in a three to six month counseling program, the treatments can be more personalized and continuously adjusted to reflect new progress.

The article continues, "health coaches support participants by creating and executing a plan--not telling them a generic plan that doesn’t take into account different situations and life parameters."

Finally, the article suggests that the increased interest in health coaching may soon result in doctors referring patients to, or perhaps even working alongside, Health Coaches. The future could see a more defined division of health practice in which interventional care is in the hands of doctors, while preventative care falls to Health Coaches.

We hope that future is sooner rather than later, but it's clear that the message about effective health coaching is spreading!

What do you think of doctors and Health Coaches working in tandem for overall health?