Health & Wellness Coaching Certification
Healthcoaches of America has standardized the qualifications of a health coach.
Credentials and Certification
Every coach must have a degree in a health related or medical field, such as, nursing, diet and nutrition, health education, wellness promotion, exercise physiology, kinesthesiology, mental health counseling or psychology. Every coach must be certified by an authorized certification body and recertified at least once every two years.
HCA certification program includes:
Health Education
It is important to keep updated on the latest developments in chronic disease management. HCA offers a review of the lifestyle contributing risks with a review of the major contributing diseases, their progression and prevention. Coaches will learn how to recognize disease risk pools and effectively “drain” them thus reducing the cost exposure of disease risk pools. They will learn about the latest method of risk evaluation, disease segmentation and its laser-precise method of intervention. They will learn how to prioritize and concentrate on the most cost-effective preemptive/ preventative methods to reduce both the pathology and the cost of the disease pools in a population.
Behavioral Modification
Psychology and scientific behavioral methodology in behavioral modification is the bases in counseling of a behavioral change. Every coach should be able to apply the basic principles of behavioral science as his/ her primary counseling tools.
Motivational Interviewing and Transtheoretical Theory
Motivational Interviewing is a skill of motivating and engaging a participant into an active counseling discourse, where a participant has a greater opportunity to express his/ her attitudes, perceptions or fears, thus, intensify the effort to overcome the barriers that may prevent or obscure the self-reliance to improve his/ her health. Coaches will learn how to judge and bolster the point-of-readiness and the level of commitment to change.
Health Promotion
Beginning in January, 2012, HCA will be offering a supplementary course on health promotion and maximizing participation within the given parameters of the cohort composition. This course will introduce coaches how to increase participation by using understanding the grain of the participating population.
Skills
A skilled coach should possess the knowledge of:
- Health risk assessment methods and interpretation of their results
- Interpretation of tests and body measurements
- Health maintenance protocols and implementation of screening tests
- Preventive immunization guidelines
- Protocol for gender, age and risk related screening tests and routine health
examinations for proper health maintenance
Proficiency in Lifestyle Modification
Ability to educate, guide and coach an individual in nutrition, stress, fitness and stop smoking lifestyle modification
Proficiency in Motivational Interviewing
Ability to conduct open-ended communication, motivation, skills in advancing participants through stages of readiness to change, guiding participants through the process of change and empathetic support.
Activity Logs
Coach must be familiar with and employ logs for fitness, nutrition, tobacco cessation and stress reduction activities.
Documentation
Coach must have the ability to document the information of every coached participant including compliance, measuring progress and goal achievements.
Strict confidentiality
A coach must keep all transactions, notes, records and private conversations with participants in strict confidentiality.
HIPAA
Every coach must be familiar with the HIPAA regulations.
Insurance
Every coach must carry minimum malpractice coverage.
Belong to a professional organization
Every coach should belong to a professional organization which can verify his/her qualification and provide him/her with recertification.
Participant Testimonials
"Thank you for conducting an educational, enlightening and enjoyable wellness conference!"
- Wellness Coach, Wisconsin
"The most useful aspect of the seminar was understanding the principles and applying them in pratical settings. Dr. Gavery is a great speaker and very engaging."
- Health Coach, RN, Monroe, LA
"I can't thank you enough for a great training. I enjoyed the material and walked away with so much useful information."
- Health Promotion Coordinator, Minnesota
"Wonderful presentation and seminar. You really helped me think and look outside the box when dealing with individual risk factors."
- Internal Occupational Nurse, RN, Wisconsin
"I can't wait to use the tools and concepts I learned to improve my coaching. I also found the nutrition section very interesting. Dr. Gavery is great at challenging and encourages critical thinking."
- Health Coach, Baton Rouge, LA
"I'm excited to work it into my daily life!" (personal and professional)
- Wellness Coach, Wisconsin
"Great information! Will recommend to others."
- Wellness Coordinator, Texas
" Thank you for conducting an educational, enlightening and enjoyable wellness conference. I have read your book and will keep it within reach for reference."
- Wellness Coach, Wisconsin
"Excellent, will recommend to others"
- Occupational Health, Wisconsin
" Thank you for offering this course. I am very excited to share this with people."
- Wellness Coach, Physical Therapy Assistant, Wisconsin
"This class was an absolute joy and had such great information from a great teacher. All the information has tied together so well and the role playing at the end helped a lot."
- Rehabilitation Technician, Wisconsin
" I found the interactive coaching/interviewing process and program to be extremely useful."
- Director of coaching, Baton Rouge, LA
"Thank you so very much for the session. The course was very informative and I will learn and become comfortable with the use of open ended questions. I also found the science behind everyone the most useful and especially the information on inflammation."
- Drug & Alcohol Program Coordinator, Eau Claire, WI
Textbook
Gavery, Raymond. G. A Guide to Health and Wellness Coaching. Ken Cook Company: Milwaukee, WI, 2007.
1. Theory and application of Brief Intervention Coaching Protocol
2. Practical application of Brief Intervention Coaching Protocol
3. Behavior modification of health risks for stress, nutrition, fitness and tobacco cessation
4. Documentation, tracking and reporting health risks
Textbook: You may order A Guide to Health and Wellness Coaching by contacting Rachel Bauer @ rachelbauer@coachesofamerica.com
