About > The Evidence Base for the Wellcoaches Protocol

The Evidence Base for the Wellcoaches Protocol

Overview

Today, more than 14,000 coaches in 50 countries have been trained in the Wellcoaches protocol, which was designed and tested in 2000-2002 for the launch of the first Wellcoaches coach training program in September 2002.

You can be assured that our coaching processes work! The Wellcoaches Protocol of health/well-being coaching is the most thoroughly tested coaching protocol in the healthcare and well-being domains, resulting in positive, statistically significant outcomes in all 22 peer reviewed studies.

194 coaches delivering 128,076 coaching sessions to 30,984 clients

Brief Research Summary

The protocol continued to expand, deepen, and evolve through the teamwork of ten Wellcoaches faculty, leading to its publication in the Wellcoaches Coaching Psychology Manual by Wolters Kluwer in 2009 (2nd edition in 2016).

The 22 studies were conducted in multiple patient/client application, demographics, and locations:

Applications — patients or clients with obesity, diabetes, heart disease risk factors, lifestyle medicines, wellness, cancer, fibromyalgia, smoking cessation, physician burnout.
Settings — implemented in primary care practices, hospitals, medical fitness programs, and employee wellness centers.
Locations — Tennessee, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, Pacific Northwest, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Maryland, Montana, Georgia, Missouri, Utah, Ireland.

Brief Research Summary

Weight Management

There are five published studies of the Wellcoaches protocol addressing weight management. Weight loss was achieved in all four studies where it was a goal. The fifth study focused on disordered eating syndromes and showed diminished incidence of binge-eating in the 225 patients studied.

Diabetes

There are four published studies describing the impact of Wellcoaches protocol in patients with pre-diabetes and diabetes. Three of these studies tested A1C and all found a beneficial reduction in this primary diabetes outcome measure. The fourth study did not look at A1C but found improved autonomy and self-efficacy, implying better diabetic self-care, after the coaching intervention.

Lifestyle Medicines and Heart Disease Risk Factors

There are nine published studies of the Wellcoaches protocol for lifestyle medicines and risk factor improvement. These reports are unanimous in finding health benefits such as reduced blood pressure, lower BMI, improved fitness, lower anxiety, smoking cessation, and improved physical functioning. There are also reports of enhanced exercise habits and improved nutritional behaviors.

Fibromyalgia and Cancer

The beneficial results in published studies in cancer and fibromyalgia include reduced anxiety and pain, reduced use of health care services, and improved quality of life.

Physician Burnout

Wellcoaches coaches adapted the Wellcoaches protocol to mitigate the effects of burnout for primary care physicians. After six coaching sessions, reduced burnout, improved job satisfaction and psychological capital were reported.

Research Citations

Evaluation of a Behavioral Intervention with Multiple Components Among Low-Income and Uninsured Adults With Obesity and Diabetes. American Journal of Health Promotion, 2018

Change in Glycemic Control With Use of a Digital Therapeutic in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: Cohort Study. JMIR Diabetes, 2018

Delivery of Health Coaching by Medical Assistants in Primary Care. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, 2017

Health coaching for healthcare employees with chronic disease: A pilot study. Work, 2019

Feasibility Pilot Study of a Teaching Kitchen and Self-Care Curriculum in a Workplace Setting. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 2017

Longitudinal Benefits of Wellness Coaching Interventions for Cancer Survivors. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences: Annual Review, 2009

Achieving Rapid Blood Pressure Control With Digital Therapeutics: Retrospective Cohort and Machine Learning Study. JMIR Cardio, 2019

A pilot study of health and wellness coaching for fibromyalgia. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 2016

Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Health Coach-Delivered Smartphone-Guided Self-Help With Standard Care for Adults With Binge Eating. American Journal of Psychiatry, 2020

Outcomes Across the Value Chain for a Comprehensive Employee Health and Wellness Intervention: A Cohort Study by Degrees of Health Engagement. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2016

Exploring the potential of telephone health and wellness coaching intervention for supporting behaviour change in adults with diabetes. Journal of Diabetes Nursing, 2015

Coaching for primary care physician well-being: A randomized trial and follow-up analysis. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 2020

Creation of the Person-Centered Wellness Home in Older Adults. Innovations in Aging, 2020

Motivational improvements for health behavior change from wellness coaching. American Journal of Health Behavior, 2014

An Evaluation of Army Wellness Center Clients' Health-Related Outcomes. American Journal of Health Promotion, 2018

Integrating Health Coaching With a Medical Fitness Program to Treat Chronic Health Conditions. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 2017

Wellness Coaching for Obesity: A Case Report. Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 2013

The effects of health coaching when added to a wellness program. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 2016

Effective Tobacco Cessation via Health Coaching: An Institutional Case Report. Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 2014

Primary Care–Based Health Coaching Intervention for Weight Loss in Overweight/Obese Adults: A 2-Year Experience. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 2019

Primary Care-Based Health Coaching for the Management of Prediabetes. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 2017

Telephone-based diet and exercise coaching and a weight-loss supplement result in weight and fat loss in 120 men and women. American Journal of Health Promotion, 2008