New Health Coaching course launches for health professionals to help NHS tackle chronic illness crisis
News
Jan 23rd, 2025
Health Coaches Academy has today launched a new 12-week coaching certificate course specifically designed for health professionals to support the prevention and care of patients in primary care and other community settings.
Amid a national crisis of chronic illness and declining healthy life expectancy, there have been calls from Health Secretary Wes Streeting for a shift toward preventative medicine in the NHS. With this in mind and NHS recognition that there is “compelling evidence that demonstrates health coaching has a positive impact on the outcomes of patients with chronic diseases such as, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and heart disease”, this new course could provide a powerful tool for health professionals to make an impact on patient outcomes.
The 12-week Coaching Certificate for Health Professionals is accredited by the well-respected Personalised Care Institute (PCI) and Association for Coaching, and is recognised by the NHS. The course covers the first Pillar of Health Coaches Academy’s Level 5 Health & Wellness Coaching Diploma, and includes the foundations and practice of coaching.
Many chronic diseases are either caused or worsened by lifestyle factors such as obesity, lack of activity, smoking and alcohol and have a significant impact on healthy life expectancy. These lifestyle factors are mostly within our control, but long term behaviour patterns are hard to change, which is where the support of a well-trained Health Coach can make a significant impact. If we want to live healthier lives and have a health service that isn’t overburdened by avoidable illness, our focus must shift to prevention.
The credentialled course has been launched in response to feedback received over the years from doctors, nurses, pharmacists and nutrition professionals, some of whom have become NHS Health Coaches after seeing the difference their work can make for patients.
Sophia Murray John is one example, a nurse for 28 years, she is now working within the NHS as a Health Coach, stating “Over my latter part of my career, it became more and more obvious that doing the checks and telling people the kind of lifestyle changes that they needed to do wasn’t enough.” I wanted to support behaviour change at the foundational level.
Liz Follows similarly had been a doctor for over 20 years by the time she enrolled with Health Coaches Academy, and is now supporting the health and wellbeing of people in a wide range of settings as a Health Coach.
Manali Reddy had been an emergency medicine doctor for more than ten years when she shared that “the same patients I’ve been seeing for more than six years, keep coming in with chronic diseases. That’s when it occurred to me that something’s just not working.” This led her to train as a Health Coach, stating that “Training to become a Health Coach has given me the skills I need to really make a difference.”
Health Coaches Academy has been training Health Coaches since 2003 and offers an innovative blend of supported live and online training which means that completion rates for the course are around 95% with most graduates going on to become successful Health Coaches.
Ann Garry CEO of Health Coaches Academy, commented:
“Health Coaches work closely with clients or patients to set achievable goals, provide accountability, and offer evidence-based strategies tailored to individual needs. This might involve coaching on healthier eating patterns, encouraging more activity, discussing stress management techniques, or encouraging good sleep hygiene.
“It is clear from the feedback we have been receiving over the past few years that the NHS and healthcare professionals could benefit hugely from a more holistic approach to treatments and support for patients. The rising levels of chronic illnesses, many of which are currently managed with expensive treatments or pharmaceuticals, not only costs the NHS billions but also unnecessarily burden millions of people with poor health for decades.
“This is why we have launched this course, to provide the necessary coaching skills for health professionals that is both sorely needed and potentially revolutionary to patient care and outcomes.”
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