Harvard’s Hello to Coaching

Coaching is a fast and growing field; it seems as every day someone else is announcing themselves as a ‘coach’. There’s really no way to track how many coaches are practicing at this point and with no standards or regulations how do we know if their skills are legitimate?

Well watch out because a new team has joined the Ivy League.  In late December 2009, the Mclean Hospital (one of the oldest research programs in existence) created the institute of Coaching. This facility is affiliated with Harvard’s Medical School and will be provided with $100,000 dollars in grants each year. The hope is that the institute will create credibility in a profession that’s at often times not taken very seriously.  For the first time ever, researchers will be able to track and evidence the progress of coaching clients thru a solid valid base of research.

So very exciting stuff, I will certainly keep you posted with their findings. Today, I’d like to share with you the early research behind coaching just so you can really see the power of accountability.

Lifestyle Change: Why not get a coach? AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center
Since 2008, AtlantiCare has offered wellness coaching to its more than 5,000 employees. They have had the opportunity to work with a certified coach to help them with a variety of things: stress management, work-life balance, weight loss, diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol. According to Kathryn Schilling, people maintain about 70 percent of the goals they set long-term with their wellness coach.


Wellness Coaching Study Finds Long Term Benefits for Cancer Survivors
Published in the International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Science and conducted by the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, showed that wellness coaching, had significant, immediate, and lasting impact in reducing anxiety and depression, while simultaneously improving quality of life and increasing other healthy lifestyle behaviors.

• In this observational cohort study of 30 breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer survivors, participants received six coaching sessions over a three month period. They were followed for a year after the final session to evaluate the sustainability of changes through wellness coaching. Survivors reported in questionnaires that they increased their fruit and vegetable consumption, increased their physical activity and had a reduction in weight and BMI that was sustained one year after ending. The most helpful aspect reported was the motivation and feedback they received as they worked toward their goals.

Wellness Coaching Keeps Hospital Workers Healthier
Published in Journal of Population Health Management

In 2004, Onlife Health (Gordian at the time) was hired by a Midwest hospital with 4,500 employees to implement an employee wellness program. In 2009, researchers began the task of analyzing the program's first four years. The services of the program began with a Health Risk Assessment, and as each year went by participants would re-assess. Then health coaching services were provided over the phone, via e-mail or using self-directed online programs.

• Researcher Adam Long stated the outcomes were “robust” with a 96% participant satisfaction rate. Year over year over year, they got better, and that was in the form of smoking behaviors, dietary behaviors like fat and fiber intake, exercise, stress levels, depressive symptoms and evaluations of life satisfaction," he said. Specifically, findings included:


• An 18 percent dietary fiber intake improvement for the population, an 11 percent dietary fat intake reduction, a 14 percent activity-level improvement and a 10 percent improvement in life satisfaction.