Posts from — July 2010

• the news isn’t encouraging. As reported by Corporation Week, family health-care premiums increased 49% from 2000 to 2004.

Another increase of 12-15 percent is expected in 2005. General Motors expects to spend $5.6 billion on medical costs in 2005, or 40 percent more than it earned in profits in 2004.

• More research shows that poor diet andphysical inactivity are major drivers of increases in healthcare costs for businesss. the number of obese adults has doubled since the 1970s.

• the rise in obesity has a significant impact on health-care costs. on average, 2002 health-care costs for an obese individuals were $1,244 higher than for a individuals with a healthful weight.

• Obesity is causing rapid increases in type 2 diabetes and contributes directly to a 65 percent increase in diabetes treatment from 1987 to 2002. Almost $1 of every $5 spent on health care in the United States is for a individuals with diabetes.

Treating worker healthcare as an investment, rather than a cost, can yield long-term dividends

• at least 50 percent of your organization’s health-care costs are driven by the lifestyle related behaviors of your staff members, like smoking, poor diet, and lack of exercise.

• In the past 10 years, the annual return on investment for Wellness Programs has been as much as $6 saved for every $1 spent, doubling the return on investment of earlier programs.

• the average reduction in health-plan costs, sick time, disability costs, and workers’ compensation is more than 25 percent for well-designed Wellness Programs.

• Fit workers are more productive workers, with fewer sick days, fewer accidents, higher morale, and lower job turnover.

The concern for worker wellness is an increasing trend for American corporation. Why? the link between worker wellness and the bottom line is clear and consistent.

Corporations who integrate wellness in their overall goals find they experience lowered absences, better morale, lowered health risks, and lowered health-care costs.

The purpose of this guide to is to encourage and help you launch your own Wellness Program. When you already have a program, but aren’t receiving the results you expected, perhaps some of the ideas and best practices in this toolkit will help you and your staff members reap the benefits of a healthier workforce.

At least 50 percent of health-care expenditures are lifestyle-related, and thus, potentially preventable. Yet despite the $5,000 an average corporation spends on healthcare per employee each year, most corporations are spending less than 5 percent of that on medical screenings and prevention.

The most robust meta-evaluation of Wellness Program studies shows something very exciting! It shows that Wellness Programs aren’t only effective at helping to reverse the rising spiral of health-care costs, but these programs are also becoming more effective. the average cost-benefit ratio has increased from 1 - 3 for earlier programs to 1 - 6 today.

Simply put, the average reduction in health-care costs, sick leave, disability costs, and workers’ compensation is more than 25% for well designed programs.

Corporate wellness provides a long-term approach for helping keep employees well. the single most vital thing you can do for your employees is to begin a Wellness Program now.

Health coaching to facilitate the promotion of healthful behavior and achievement of health-related goals

Coaching has become acceptable to both company and individuals to help improve performance, manage stress and achieve work and personal goals. Yet very few papers have been published with a specific focus on health and coaching.

This article highlights the possible role of coaching to facilitate the promotion of healthful behaviors and to help person achieve their health-related goals.

Introduction to Health Coaching

The practice of personal, family, health, life, company, sports, performance and executive coaching has grown substantially since the early 1990s (Cockerill 2002, Fournies 2000, Neenan and Palmer 2001, Parsloe and Wray 2000, Peltier 2001).

Although the term “coach” has been borrowed as a metaphor from sport, it’s now applied to the personal and work domains. Consequently the term “coaching” has entered into the public psyche beyond the sports pages of the national newspapers and is becoming normally accepted as beneficial to its recipients.

It can even be seen as trendy having your own personal life coach. Whereas, in the United Kingdom, there’s still a stigma attached to seeing a counsellor or psychotherapist.

What is health coaching?

There are many definitions of coaching. Four are summarized below -

1. Health coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. It’s helping them to learn rather than teaching them - a facilitation approach (Whitmore 1992, based on Gallwey, a tennis expert).

2. Health coaching - Directly concerned with the immediate improvement of performance and development of skills by a form of tutoring or instruction - an instructional approach (Parsloe 1995).

3. Health coaching - the art of facilitating the performance, learning and development of another - a facilitation approach (Downey 1999).

Psychologists have developed another variation -  

4. Health coaching psychology is for enhancing wellness and performance in personal life and work domains with normal, non-clinical populations, underpinned by models of coaching grounded in established adult learning or psychological approaches (adapted Grant and Palmer 2002).

It can probably be assumed that these definitions ought to reflect the nature of coaching as practised by many practitioners.

Accordingly the key aspects of coaching, depending upon the model of coaching being applied, appear to include enhancing well-being, learning, facilitation, tutoring, instruction, development of skills and bettering performance. In addition, coaching is typically goal and solution focused (Grant 2001).

Health Coaching

Similar to health education experts, typically the coach takes an active and directive role. Typically, the coach assists the coachee to achieve their objectives by facilitating the learning process.

When “health coaching” or “coaching for health” is the focus, the coach may help to educate the coachee on specific health-related topics and subsequently support them in achieving

Health Coaching -  Practice Briefing

Health coaching to facilitate the promotion of healthy behavior and achievement of their health-related goals. as the term coaching is becoming acceptable to the public, the concept of health coaching could be more favourably received by a client group on the contrary to attending a health education lecture.

An established health-related expert body, the Institute of Wellness and Education, provides a definition of wellness and health education in their constitution -

The practice of wellness and health education may  be described as the organisation and execution of the influences affecting the environment, as well as individual knowledge, attitudes and behavior, in matters concerning health for enabling communities and person to maintain and promote personal and community health and well-being, together with a proper acceptance and use of the health and medical services available. (IHPE 2002)

This definition does not conflict with the general principles of the coaching approach, although its focus is on health and it can also be at the community level. This would be similar to stress or stress management coaching that is now available.

The International Stress Management Association (UK) has recognized the practice of this form of coaching for a number of years. It could be argued that stress management training and stress management coaching comes below the umbrella of the health education field.

Another professional body, the Association for Coaching (2003), includes both stress management coaching and health coaching on its website as “Speciality Coaching’.

Hence the term “health coaching” is entering into general public awareness, although not necessarily among mainstream health education or promotion professionals.

Within the field of health, papers have been published on behavioral counselling which has been used to educate clients with coronary heart disease (Steptoe et al 1999). Intriguingly, the counselling is active and directive in nature and takes an educational approach which could be more accurately described as instructional coaching.

A tentative definition of health coaching is given below -

Health coaching is the practice of health education and wellness within a coaching context, to enhance the wellness of person and to facilitate the achievement of their health-related goals.

This definition attempts to link health education and promotion to the key elements of coaching.

Psychological Blocks to Change

Due to the personal nature of coaching it may include tackling the health-related psychological blocks to change which may be challenged in the individual or group coaching session.

These cognitive or attitudinal blocks to change can be divided into Health Inhibiting Thinking (HITs) and Health Enhancing Thinking (HETs).* Cognitive techniques such as Socratic questioning can be used to help a customer to modify their thinking.

Health Coaching -  Final Thoughts

With the increasing interest in coaching, the introduction of “health coaching” or “coaching for health” might have an appeal across different generations.

Nonetheless, there’s a lack of published research that underpins the effectiveness of health coaching. Although many models of coaching exist (Bluckert 2003), the application of models to health coaching which take an educational approach, like cognitive-behavioral or multimodal, may provide promising results (Neenan and Palmer 2001, Palmer et al 2003).

In our modern and hectic lives filled with the demands of family, work, and much more, it may seem difficult to tackle our wellness on our own.  

A lot of of us develop goals that seem beyond reach and we cannot seem to stick to a specific wellness program for an extended period of time.  

With the numerous struggles that prevent us from reaching our optimum individual wellness, many of us would welcome the assistance and guidance of a specialist wellness coach.  

A wellness coach is a trained expert who works with person to help them to reach their wellness goals by developing and implementing personal wellness programs.  

A wellness coach is highly educated and ordinarily maintains advanced degrees in areas such as Exercise Physiology, Occupational or Physical Therapy, Athletic Training, and Nutrition.  

A wellness coach sets achievable objectives for the patron, holds them accountable, and acts as a guide, motivator, and support system for that individual.  They focus on behavioral change by using individually designed programs to meet the unique needs of the patron while offering creative solutions to help them achieve their objectives.  

In order to fully understand the role of a wellness coach it is important to understand the various factors that involved in overall wellness.  The five major components of wellness are health risks, physical activity, stress management, weight control, and nutrition.  

A wellness coach focuses on each of these areas of wellness while meeting the specific needs of the customer whether they’re attempting to lose weight, get in shape, reduce stress, or quit smoking.  

They evaluate a person’s needs based on a highly scientific study known as a Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal} .  After a wellness coach has determined the specific needs of the patron, he or she is able to create the wellness program, set achievable objectives for that individual, and monitor them while they reach success.  

Wellness coaches focus on physical health in addition to mental and emotional health to create a balance in the patron’s life.  They not only work on helping the patron with their current wellness issues, but they assist the patron to maintain their individual health by creating future goals in their wellness program.  

Every individual has unique needs and time constraints that require attention in different ways.  A wellness coach provides convenience with their services by working with clients in a variety of ways.  

The client and coach may use telephone meetings, e-mails and instant messaging (electronic coaching), face-to-face interactions, or a combination of these various forms of communication.  

Although electronic coaching is becoming the most well-liked method due to its lower cost and efficiency, each customer may select the method or methods will work best for them.  

The wellness coach is available 24 hours a day through internet based communication to make it even more convenient for the patron to reach his or her goals.  

Wellness coaches offer the type of assistance that fits the needs of each client for make it easier for the client to embrace their personal wellness program.  

Based on the convenience, knowledge, and assistance that is offered by a wellness coach, it is easy to see why more and more people  are taking advantage of these coaches to assist them in achieving their ultimate wellness objectives.  

How to Take Control of Stress and Improve Your Wellness

What’s Stress?

Stress is the emotional, physiological, and psychological effects caused by internal or external mental pressure.  It’s an unavoidable part of life, but despite its negative connotation, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  

Stress might even be beneficial in cases when it enhances performance and assists individuals  to achieve difficult objectives.  Nonetheless, when stress is excessive and causes an individual to feel loss of control, medical problems can occur such as headaches, tension, anxiety, depression, exhaustion, irritability, and digestive problems.  

When stress levels elevate to this point, wellness is compromised.  Person may seek the assistance of a stress management coach in order to help them take control of their lives and improve their wellness.  

Who are Stress Management Coaches?

Stress management coaches are educated professionals who develop programs to assist person in developing coping strategies to manage stress and minimize the presence of stressors in daily life.  

Coaches explore the reasons why an individual may react in certain ways to various situations by using health assessments in addition to depression and anxiety screenings.  

After deciding an individual’s causes for their feelings, stress management coaches are better able to develop programs tailored to meet specific needs.  

Coaches set attainable objectives, act as a mentor and a support system, and use techniques that are most suitable for each specific individual.  

There are many effective methods to reduce stress, and stress management coaches can help you to achieve your objectives to make yourself happier and healthier.  

How Controlling Stress Improves Your Health

When individuals are faced with chronic stress it starts to cause physical signs which can range in severity.  Chronic stress can weaken the immune system, hence making the individual more susceptible to colds and the flu as well as more serious health problems such as heart disease and diabetes.  

Wellness may also suffer because of the maintenance of healthful habits is often diminished in priority in the presence of stress.  There are many helpful techniques that a stress management coach can help you create to protect your health from the dangers of excessive stress.  

Take Control

Stress may be as detrimental to individual health as a poor diet or even smoking when it is out of control.  Managing stress is an achievable goal and will certainly be a reality with the help of a professional.  

With a stress management coach person might work to accept that stress and act to manage it.  Learning to effectively deal with stress will improve current daily life and protect your wellness in the future.  

Do you find it challenging to stay aroused when trying to make changes to your health? Are you aware that changes must be made in your daily life but you don’t know where to begin?

Wellness coaches are trained experts who work with you individually to help you reach your wellness goals by developing and beginning personal wellness programs.  

They motivate, guide, and support you to reach sustainable behavioral changes by offering creative wellness solutions.  

Wellness coaches provide individually designed programs to meet your unique needs by focusing on physical, mental, and emotional health.  

They help you become proactive in your life by eliminating unhealthful behaviors and making wellness a priority.  

Benefits of Wellness Coaching for Your Employees

Employees can benefit  greatly from wellness coaching in a variety of ways.  Wellness coaching is one aspect of a wellness program that can help person decrease major health risks in their lives by changing high risk behaviors.  

Some of the many reasons why workers work with wellness coaches are to get in shape, lose weight, reduce stress, quit smoking, and create balance in their lives. Wellness coaches assist person with current medical problems as well as preventing future wellness issues.  

Because each program that a wellness coach creates is unique to suit the needs of the patron, they can be certain that it’ll be a program that is right for them.

Many busy staff members may feel that they don’t have the time to spend working individually with a coach so these wellness professionals offer coaching sessions in a selection of ways.  

While electronic coaching through the use of e-mails and instant messaging has become a well-liked method due to its convenience, telephone and face-to-face interactions might also be used.  

Employees have the ability to achieve their wellness objectives and improve their health and well being through the assistance of their wellness coach.

Benefits of Wellness Coaching for the Company

The overall advantages of wellness coaching for a company are remarkable.  Employee high risk behaviors like smoking and obesity cost corporations millions of dollars every year.  

These high risk behaviors often cause preventable illness and keep staff members from coming to work. Wellness coaches guide, support, hold clients accountable, and ensure that they receive continued motivation to help them achieve their wellness objectives and eliminate unhealthy behaviors in their lives.  

By implementing wellness programs and using wellness coaching in their organizations, businesss reduce the risk of avoidable disease in their organizations.  

This improves the overall health of workers, lowers healthcare and insurance costs, lowers absenteeism, and ultimately enhances performance and productivity.  

When workers experience the benefits of higher levels wellness in their lives it causes an betterment in job attitude, energy, and morale.  

Companies that utilize wellness coaching for their staff members experience the benefits of higher productivity.

Hiring a health coach will affect your life in more ways than you can imagine. the benefits of hiring a health coach are so excellent that even the biggest businesses in the world are getting in on the action.

But before you get started, you owe it to yourself to consider the ways that your life will change. After all, anytime that you’re faced with a major life change you should really consider everything that is going to be brought to the forefront.

There are three primary ways that a health coach will affect your life. of course, everyone is different, but commonly these details will come into play.

And the good thing is that they’re all advantageous to your life in one way or the next. In other words, hiring a health coach is not something that’ll have a negative impact on your lifestyle.

A health coach will help you to take the way that you look and feel to the next level. Not only will this help with the way that individuals  perceive you, but it’ll also do a lot for your inner emotions as well.

When you look better and feel good about what you are doing, this is going to show in the way that you act in addition to the way that you see yourself. All in all, a health coach will allow you to gain more self esteem than you ever thought possible.

You only have one life, so making the most of it’s important. A health coach will be sure that you’re doing what is best to help you live a long and healthful life.

This could  be the largest impact that a health coach has on the way that you live. After all, if minor changes in your lifestyle can help you to live healthier and longer you’d be a fool to pass this by.

In most cases, working with a health coach will change the way that you see the world around you. Remember, not only do they take great pride in shaping your body but the same thing holds true when it comes to your mental state.

Not everybody may be a model, but everybody can feel good about themselves. With a health coach, you’ll realize the good that is within in addition to the good in others.  

A health coach can and will affect your life from day one. When you are looking for a positive influence to shape your mind and body also help you to live healthful, a health coach is right for you.

How can a health coach help me? This is a question that many individuals  ask themselves time and time again. After all, the thought of having somebody to help reach your objectives has to be somewhat appealing, right?

But with that in mind, until you know what a health coach can do for you, you will probably never move forward with hiring one. Luckily, with a bit of research and soul searching you will be able to determine the advantages of working with a health coach.

Typically speaking, the most basic way that a health coach can help is by helping you in reaching your health and exercise related goals. While it’s easy for individuals  to set goals, when it comes to actually carrying out the work to reach them things can get a bit more challenging.

This is where a health coach can come into play. They will be able to assess your objectives, let you know if they are feasible, and then work with you every step of the way. This way, you will not be on your own when times get tough and you feel like throwing in the towel.

Now that you know the general details, the next thing is to consider the more in depth areas in which a health coach can assist you. as you can imagine, a health coach devotes most of their time to coaching others as far as their physical and sometimes mental health is concerned.

Many people  decide to hire a health coach because they need simple help in getting their body back in shape. After all, as you begin to get older and time gets tight, keeping in shape is not always the easiest thing to do.

This is namely true if you spend the majority of your time at work and/or with your family. But luckily, a health coach can work with you either in individuals, on the phone, or even online. This makes it easy to get the assistance that you need without really changing your lifestyle.

One thing that you need to know about hiring a health coach is that they’ll work with any type of customer. When you think that your problem is too simple, you are wrong. and in the same thought, there is no issue that is too big either.

The fact of the matter is that a health coach takes excellent pride in assisting anybody who needs it. So before you pass this opportunity by, rememberthat no matter what you’re up against you’ll qualify for help.

To find out exactly what a health coach can do for you, touch base with one of them to discuss your situation. From there, you will have a much better feel for how to move forward.

Individual Benefits of Fitness

Do you want to get fit, lose excess fat, or have more energy?  Most individuals  would answer “yes” to this question.  It’s hard to imagine why whoever would not want to achieve fitness for become a healthier person.  

If you are overweight or obese, have a family history of heart illness or diabetes, have high cholesterol or blood pressure, or simply feel that you might be a healthier you, then you may benefit  from a fitness program.  

Regular exercise is an easy way to help prevent many illnesses by eliminating the major risk factors such as obesity and lack of movement.  A combination of aerobic activity and resistance training is the best way to achieve your fitness objectives while improving your health.  

When picking  a fitness program, the most challenging aspect could  be finding an activity or exercise that is fun as opposed to one that does not motivate you.  

Person are excited in different ways which is why there are so many fitness plans out there.  If you attempt something that you do not like, you can always move on and attempt something different until you discover a certain activity that appeals to you.  

Many times, individuals create their own plans for exercise but lose interest in the program and consequently find themselves steering away from their good intentions.  This is why a health coach could  be exactly what an individual needs for keep them on the right track to achieve fitness for life.

How a Health Coach can make it Possible

Health coaches are trained experts that assist customers in achieving fitness for life in a variety of ways.  a personal can hire a fitness trainer to work with them at the health club and help them with their fitness goals; nevertheless, a health coach does a great deal more to help their customers reach success.  

A health coach uses a health risk (assessment|appraisal} to determine the individual needs of the customer and uses this information to create a at action for their fitness plan.  Because everyone has unique fitness objectives, each fitness program is customized to fit the needs of the customer.  

A health coach not only arouses you to achieve your fitness objectives but also teaches you to motivate yourself.  

Health coaches understand that people  have busy lives and require convenient ways to exercise.  That is why a health coach develops customized programs that’ll work with an individual’s busy schedule.  

They’re also available 24 hours a day through web-based communication and hold sessions as often or as little as the customer needs.  Health coaches may assist their customers by telephone, e-mail and instant messaging, or face-to-face meetings.  

Although health coaches focus on other aspects of a person’s wellness such as nutrition, stress management, and sleep management, it’s important to understand that each of these aspects of a wellness program intertwine to assist a person in becoming the healthiest person they can be.

Before you call it quits and decide to give up on having a healthier lifestyle, you may want to consider what a health coach can do for you. Many people  get so frustrated working out on their own that they give up before they really have a chance to succeed.

Luckily, by hiring a health coach you can avoid this issue, and end up with the body that you have been dreaming of. But before you jump forward too far, you need to know what a health coach is as well as what one can do for you.

Generally speaking, a health coach is a fitness trainer, dietician, and much more all rolled into one. While this may sound like an impossible job on the surface, the fact of the matter is that health coaches are very good at what they do.

These experts have many years of experience in the health industry, and have a knack for communicating what they know to others on a very personal level.

The primary goal of any health coach is to work with you so that you can reach the goals that you’ve set forth for yourself. and guess what?

When you don’t know what you want to accomplish your health coach can help in that area as well. Simply put, they’re there to be certain that you are on the right path to success.

Health coaches come from a variety of different backgrounds. Although most individuals  do not go through schooling thinking that they want to be a health coach, over time they begin to transform into this career.

For example, many health coaches have backgrounds in fitness training, bodybuilding, health and nutrition, exercise science, and much more.

Once you hire a health coach, he or she will be at your disposal day in and day out. A lot of people  rely on coaches to help them on an individual basis. and although this is a good idea for some, internet based health coaches are becoming more well-liked due to busy schedules.

So before you think that you don’t have time to work with a health coach, you should really reconsider. They will be willing to work with you in the capacity that best suits your lifestyle.

While working with a health coach you’ll be able to get expert advice on reaching your objectives. If you want to lose weight, you’ll be supplied with an exercise plan that will get you moving in the right direction. the same thing holds true for those people  who want to eat healthier, get in better shape, etc.

As you can see, a health coach is more than just your average Joe. They are trained in multiple disciplines, and work with patrons in order to help them reach their goals.