An Exploration of Health Coaching Models and their Efficacy in Chronic Disease Management: A Literature Review

Amidst the rise of chronic condition prevalence in recent decades, the field of health coaching has presented itself as a feasible complementary treatment method in chronic condition prevention and management. This literature review analyzes various clinical health coaching practices and their effectiveness in improving health behaviors and clinical outcomes in patients with chronic conditions. Eight studies were compared, with particular attention directed towards the evaluation of coaching techniques and modes of delivery. It was discovered that successful health coaching practices use a combination of Motivational Interviewing (MI), self-efficacy, and goal setting. Furthermore, programs that incorporated in-person intake sessions, followed by brief, biweekly telephone sessions for the duration of 3-6 months appeared to correlate most with program efficacy. Despite these findings, increased consistency amongst coaching licensure and testing outcomes are needed to strengthen current research examining the efficacy of health coaching in chronic disease management