Every four years, families sit down together after a presidential election. They set aside their political differences to appreciate each other and feel gratitude for the gifts of family, and the wonders of being alive. Political divisions are as old as democratic societies that make room for diverse and opposing views. At least now we are far more civil than long ago when people dueled, staking their lives over opposing positions. Nevertheless, this season can be challenging, not just for families, but also for circles of friends, and work colleagues and teams. Civility and politeness in politics and being respectful and considerate to others’ views has been a casualty of our 2016 election cycle. As The Wall Street Journal’s Elizabeth Bernstein notes on HOW TO AVOID A FAMILY BLOWUP AT THANKSGIVING, “the election has left Americans polarized and resentful. Emotions are high. Empathy is low.” The Harvard Gazette just published an article: NEW NATIONAL MOTTO: YOU’RE WRONG, I’M RIGHT. Of course, we didn’t arrive at this deep level of polarization overnight. But now that it’s out in plain view, we need new ways to navigate our differences. I want to offer a perspective based upon the notion that the human mind is a collection of independent and distinct parts, each with its own agenda, beautifully depicted in the Pixar movie, Inside Out. My STRENGTHS-BASED MODEL OF THE MULTIPLICITY OF MIND is made up of an inner family: the Mindful Self and nine life forces. It’s explored in the new Harvard Health book, ORGANIZE YOUR EMOTIONS, OPTIMIZE YOUR LIFE. The Mindful Self steps back and detaches from our strongest and loudest voices, and draws out other voices to provide more balance in the inner dialogue. Then we can tune into a variety of life forces to diversify perspectives and bring more wisdom and even gratitude, especially when parts of you don’t feel grateful. Here’s what this might look like as we approach work, social, and family events over the holiday season and deal with inner and outer conflicts. Autonomy (authenticity, values, self-determination): The political values of someone close (family, friend or colleague) conflict with values I hold dear, and maybe even conflict with my self-actualization. Standard Setter (setting standards and judging): I agree with Autonomy. These opposing values are simply not acceptable and not good for us. I will not lower my standards. Adventurer (new experience and learning): It might be helpful to have an open mind here. I wonder whether we could set aside self-concerns and judgment and get curious about what is driving these opposite values – life experience, priorities, deep wiring? Maybe there is something new to appreciate, to learn. Relational (puts others first and wants social harmony): I’m remembering an old adage of parenting – you can be right, or you can have the relationship, but sometimes you can’t have both. How about we empathize with the opposing view, even if we disagree, and choose the relationship? We could shift focus to what we appreciate, and our common values, not only on where we differ. Creative (out-of-the box thinking): Let’s find some humor. What if we pivot to having fun together like we used to, telling jokes, playing games, even being able to appreciate the satire inherent to the situation? Meaning Maker (zoom out to meaning and purpose): Let’s look at the higher meaning. A first step in a major disagreement with someone close is to seek to understand, appreciate, and respect the other side, channeling one’s higher self. Perhaps the real learning is to upgrade our acceptance of others and what we can’t change. Expand our limits of compassion. We could then be grateful for the gifts of this experience. We may even be a role model for those whose values clash with ours. Body Regulator (concerned with health and balance): Let’s chill and enjoy each other. And don’t forget to get in a workout, savor every bite, and hold back on overeating along with strong emotions. In the best case, family, friends, and colleagues with opposing values and views come together to find common ground, acknowledging the good in both perspectives. We then go on to improve our relationships. That’s the beautiful upside of polarization: we are grateful for opposing views. They can lead us together to a better place.

As the coaching industry expands, the choices of schools, programs and philosophies has grown exponentially. However, becoming a coach is about much more than studying a set of skills and then applying them scientifically to another person. Becoming a coach is as much about personal transformation as it is professional growth. To become a coach, one must BE coach-like in all aspects of one’s life. And, for this transformation to occur, it is important that you connect with a coaching community with shared values, philosophies and visions. This 10-part blog series is designed to support you in navigating that choice. Wellcoaches faculty are experienced and masterful coaches. Like you, your teachers at Wellcoaches are lifelong learners, continually striving to grow and improve. That is why eight of our faculty members have the highest certifications from the INTERNATIONAL COACH FEDERATION. Ongoing professional development is a joy for us – and we love to share our leading-edge learning with you! Your teachers bring diverse backgrounds, just like you in a field that is diverse in its nature.  They are scientists, psychologists, nurses, physicians, physiologists, dieticians, executive coaches, healthcare experts, authors – and most of all, dedicated to living an authentically healthy lifestyle.  You will find both role models and inspirations among them. Our faculty members are practicing coaches, with active coaching practices –  with real success stories…and real challenges.  We love to share the stories of our clients’ victories and our own learning processes to support new coaches in navigating their own discovery about the kinds of coaches they are becoming. Our live classes provide the opportunity for rich storytelling and discussion about the work. Although we present forward-thinking, leading-edge content, this is not an experimental program. You will benefit from our many years of coach training experience.  Since 2002, we have trained the largest pool of professional coaches in the world – over 10,000.  Many of our students come from health care systems, large employers, and coaching and wellness vendors. We have a well over a decade of experience learning from our students, who are applying the concept of coaching in the real world.  You can be certain that you will be presented with new ideas and skills in a way that enables you to apply them with confidence. Inquires for reflection: What kind of experience do you believe is important for faculty to have? What are indicators of coaching “expertise”? What is the learning environment you hope an masterful teacher would create for the students?

SEE STUDY IN BMC MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS https://bmcmusculoskeletdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12891-016-1316-0 Client Testimonials “I am more comfortable with having fibromyalgia and being able to get through it; I know I am going to be okay; I started going to the gym twice/week; I still have a lot of fatigue but the pain has subsided” “I’ve always been a goal setter and do things no matter how much I hurt; my coach and I have worked on taking time for myself and sleeping more; getting more restful sleep; I am seeing a difference in pain levels –decreased soreness to the touch and less trouble with my legs” “I would have had a different life if I’d had this 10 years ago” Results at a glance In collaboration with Kevin Hackshaw, MD, four Wellcoaches-certified coaches (Susan O’Donnell, Pat Roix, Lisa Creekmur and Christine VanHoozer) worked with 9 patients with fibromyalgia (FM) for 12-months leading to: an increase in self-compassion and self-kindness; pain scores decreased 32% and FM impact scores improved 35%; and an 86% decrease in health care utilization during and 6 months post-intervention. What is Fibromyalgia? Fibromyalgia is a member of a class of disorders called “medically unexplained symptoms” which present significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in healthcare (1). The economic impact of FM is enormous; current estimates suggest that as many as 25% of FM patients in the US receive some form of disability or injury compensation (2, 3). Various reports suggest that overall healthcare costs of FM are more than double that for people without FM (4, 5). Two factors that determine FM patients’ health and quality of life are a positive diagnosis and effective treatment (6). What is Health & Wellness Coaching (HWC)? The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that a Health and Wellness Coaching-based (HWC) intervention for FM would result in sustained improvements in health, quality of life, and reductions in healthcare-related costs as documented by subjective global improvement and health care utilization. The HWC approach employs health professionals who have completed the Wellcoaches professional health and wellness coach training and certification (125 live hours training over 18 months). The training curriculum integrates evidence-based theories in behavior change, self-determination, self efficacy and self regulation, motivational interviewing, positive psychology, and communication techniques into a standardized patient-centered protocol. HWC helps patients identify a personal vision of thriving, mentally and physically.  Coaches assist patients in developing autonomous motivation, new skills, improved self-efficacy, and sustainable changes in mindset and behavior that deliver more thriving through improved health and well-being. The 12 Month HWC Protocol The HWC protocol combined 60-minute, phone-based group coaching sessions (for 12 months) with 45-minute, private phone-based coaching sessions (up to 20 sessions over 12 months). Web-based educational webinars were provided, prior to each group coaching session, drawing upon the latest neuroscience discoveries to encourage patients to work on “rewiring their brains”, thinking and feeling patterns, and personal wellness habits. Group coaching sessions addressed webinar topics including taming emotional frenzy, deep focus and flow, mindfulness, self-compassion, and leveraging one’s strengths. Individual coaching sessions were customized while encouraging patients to discuss their learning and application of the content in the webinars and the group coaching sessions. Following the HWC intervention, patients expressed an appreciation for feeling increased calm, more in control of health issues, greater self-compassion, and decreased stress leading to healthier choices. References 1 Yunus MB. Editorial Review: An Update on Central Sensitivity Syndromes and the Issues of Nosology and Psychobiology. Curr Rheumatol Rev. 2015;11(2):70-85. 2 Smith HS, Harris R, Clauw D. Fibromyalgia: an afferent processing disorder leading to a complex pain generalized syndrome. Pain Physician. 2011 Mar-Apr;14(2):E217-45. 3 Wolfe F. The fibromyalgia syndrome: a consensus report on fibromyalgia and disability. J Rheumatol. 1996 Mar;23(3):534-9. 4 White LA, Birnbaum HG, Kaltenboeck A, Tang J, Mallett D, Robinson RL. Employees with fibromyalgia: medical comorbidity, healthcare costs, and work loss. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2008 Jan;50(1):13-24. 5 Thompson JM, Luedtke CA, Oh TH, Shah ND, Long KH, King S, et al. Direct medical costs in patients with fibromyalgia: Cost of illness and impact of a brief multidisciplinary treatment program. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2011 Jan;90(1):40-6. 6 Clauw DJ. Fibromyalgia: a clinical review. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2014 Apr 16;311(15):1547-55.

Every health professional can probably point to a certain circumstance or life event that helped guide them to that role. For me, my journey began about 6 years ago. I was struggling with a mix of health issues (skin, hormonal, emotional) and decided to pursue holistic care. I consulted a nutritionist for just under a year with few results to speak of. Next, I started meeting regularly with a naturopathic doctor and continued for about 9 months. The answers I longed for weren’t rushing to the surface, but the support I felt from this doctor was night-and-day difference from the first nutritionist. I could tell that the naturopath genuinely cared about my health challenges as well as my frustrations in not seeing answers despite intense effort. Over a year later, I chose to work with another naturopathic doctor and started to see a few signs of progress in my physical health. About this same time, I enrolled in Huntington College of Health Sciences and started studying nutrition. Along the way, I had the opportunity to work with wellness programming for two 3-month periods at my local hospital. It was during one of these internships that I first discovered Wellcoaches and heard a bit more about the health coaching model. Something clicked. A candle started to flicker. My passion for coaching was kindled. Upon graduation from college, I decided to pursue health coach certification. Initially, I planned to enroll in a program that offered no person-to-person interaction, but it was reasonably priced and only a few months long. However, after consulting a few trusted individuals in the healthcare field—one of them had been through Wellcoaches herself—I switched course and signed up to be a part of the January 2016 Core Coach Training cohort. Even before the training started, I had such positive expectations of what the experience would be like. I was not disappointed. During the first teleclass on January 19, I decided to speak up despite the butterflies I felt in my stomach and my uncertainty about what I could offer in a class of so many professionals with years of experience in their fields. However, once I moved past the initial fear, it started to get easier to volunteer in demonstrations with the instructors or express my recent “aha” moments in coaching. The nerves weren’t gone by any means, but I was talking in every class and feeling more confident every time I pressed the “1”. My learning partner assignment was also an incredibly rich part of my journey at Wellcoaches. Kelsey and I connected via email after the first teleclass and scheduled a time to Skype later in the week. From that first interaction, we bonded; we grew as coaches; we were honest about our challenges; and we encouraged each other to keep pressing “onward and upward” as Coach Meg says. January turned into February, and February into March, and each week I felt more confident in my coaching skills and was excited to learn more and have more dynamic interactions. (I’ll come back to describe this term in more detail shortly.) By April, the assignments turned to creating your own wellness vision with the assistance of another coach-in-training. The dominant theme that surfaced for me could be summarized in one word…thriving. To this end, I came up with a list of activities that I believed cultivated that thriving feeling. And one of those was…dynamic interactions. From my journal, “What Makes Me Feel Like I Am Thriving?”: “dynamic interactions with individuals that challenge me to be my best self (e.g., coaching with classmates/practice clients).” From my first encounter with Wellcoaches (during the internship) to the actual Core Coach Training to my Skype sessions with Kelsey, I knew health coaching was something special for me. Through the development of my wellness vision I was able to see why: the dynamic interactions of coaching were intricately connected to my best self’s ideal of thriving. Coach. Connect. Thrive. Hannah Ewing is a Certified Wellcoach with a passion for everything coaching-related. She facilitates the Facebook group WELLNESS COACHES UNITED, where she connects with coaches all over the United States and even internationally. She is also the owner of HANNAH’S HEALTH COACHING, LLC, and spends much of her time building this business.

FareWell Pilot Results In a February 16, 2017 release, Dr. Mark Berman (Head of Health at FareWell Company) shared the results of pilot testing a new digital platform providing a means for weight loss, using Wellcoaches trained coaches.  FareWell is a physician-led program to help people improve health by making lasting changes to diet and lifestyle; the program and mobile app provides clients with coach calls, weekly meal plans, how-to videos, and 24/7 messaging support.  The company’s goal is to pioneer novel digital therapeutics targeting lifestyle-related cardiometabolic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, obesity and certain cancers (HTTPS://FAREWELL.IO/).  The nutritional features and exercise recommendations of the program are derived from evidenced-based findings and incorporate key principles established by FareWell’s advisory board that includes Dr. David Eisenberg, Dr. David Katz, Margaret Moore, and Mark Erickson. In their pilot study, Dr. Berman and associates recruited 94 female volunteers with a willingness to prepare meals at home and eat mostly whole, plant-based foods.  The study was a non-randomized, pre-post design offering 16 weeks free access to the Farewell program.  It included meal planning tools, smart shopping lists, recipes, a daily self-monitoring feature, variable weekly goals, and a short weekly curriculum delivered by email.  Each participant received a free digital scale with weigh-ins accessible to both participant and health coach.  Coaching calls, scheduled every two weeks at the participant’s convenience, provided participants behavioral support and a degree of personalization. The average participant age was 51 years and BMI was 32.8 (class 1 obesity).  “Starters” were defined as those with two or more coaching calls and at least one digital engagement (e.g. logging a daily target) in four weeks, and, “completers” defined as those who had at least 2 digital engagements in week 16 of the program.  Given this definition, nearly 75% of participants completed the program. Findings from the FareWell study emphasized those with the greatest engagement had the best results.  Those in the top third of participation lost 7.1% of body weight while the average for all completers was 5.1% loss over the 16-week program.  More than 70% of those in the top third achieved greater than 5% loss of body weight; a goal associated with improve health outcomes.  Excellent participation in physical activity (average = 4 times/week) was also achieved by program completers. The results from the FareWell pilot study are reminiscent of the large-scale (> 25,000 participants) coaching study published last summer.  In that article, Long et al. reported coached participants with higher engagement showed better overall health outcomes than participants with lesser engagement in their coaching program (also Wellcoaches-based).   A common theme in the FareWell results, and the Long et al. study, is those who stick with their health coach have a better chance for successful behavior change and positive health outcomes, particularly weight loss. The FareWell study provides an excellent and specific clinical demonstration of successfully incorporating the Wellcoaches model into a behavioral intervention plan for obese women.  FareWell presents a digital platform and new alternative for those seeking healthy behavior changes with weight loss as a first goal.  It is exciting to see Wellcoaches-trained coaches be a critical feature in the success achieved by those participating in the FareWell program. Sources Berman, M.  (2017). Learning and outcomes from our first digital therapeutic pilot. HTTPS://FAREWELL-ASSETS.S3.AMAZONAWS.COM /PILOT_RESULTS_EXTENDED_REFERENCED_VERSION.PDF Long, D., Reed, R. & Duncan, I. (2016).  Outcomes Across the Value Chain for a Comprehensive Employee Health and Wellness Intervention: A Cohort Study by Degrees of Health Engagement Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine:  JULY 2016 – VOLUME 58 – ISSUE 7 – P 696–706 doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000000765

In the United States, primary care has historically treated patients using a “sick care” model, a system which waits for patients to become ill before they are treated.   However, the advent of the Affordable Care Act, gave rise to patient centered medical homes, which are designed to support a primary prevention model, a system which seeks to prevent the onset of disease.  In an effort to prevent the development of type two diabetes, many patient centered medical homes have instituted proactive HbA1c screening for patients at high risk for developing type two diabetes. Unfortunately, even with preemptive testing, most patients with prediabetes do not receive proven interventions that prevent or slow the development of diabetes.  On occasion, patients will receive counseling from their primary care physician regarding the benefits of weight loss, physical activity and diet, but due to a lack of resources patient centered medical homes are not capable of delivering time intensive, evidence based interventions, such as the Diabetes Prevention Program.  Massachusetts General Hospital’s Ambulatory Practice of the Future (APF), a patient centered medical home, is no different, as it does not have the means to provide a comprehensive educational and behavioral lifestyle intervention, which call for frequent dietary counseling and supervised exercise sessions.  However, the APF does have the resources to provide health coaching. As a Wellcoaches certified health coach, working at the APF, I set out to explore the preliminary outcomes associated with behavioral health coaching for adults with prediabetes.  Through a retrospective chart review I found that patients with prediabetes who received an average of seven health coaching sessions, over a five month period: – Lowered their HbA1c from 5.85% to 5.64%, over a two years. – Sustained an average weight loss of 12 pounds, over a two years. – Experienced a continued improvement in HbA1c and body weight after the active health coaching period concluded, suggesting the potential for a sustained effect of the intervention. – Most commonly set goals associated with: Cardiovascular exercise (82%), Strength training (71%), Food Preparation (59%) Due to the study’s limitations a direct correlation between the use of a health coaching model and a reduction in HbA1c cannot be drawn.  However, this retrospective study generated a need to further evaluate the effectiveness of a health coaching intervention, when delivered to patients with prediabetes, as it may provide a feasible and effective behavioral intervention that can be delivered within a patient centered medical home.  To read the full article, recently published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine , please follow this link: PRIMARY CARE-BASED HEALTH COACHING FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF PREDIABETES

“As a physician, I need something more than just telling my patients to get active-I need to refer them to someone to help them.” Bob Sallis, MD These words spoke to me as I sat in the large meeting room packed to near capacity at the ACSM Health and Fitness Summit in San Diego. The presenter was Dr. Bob Sallis, Co-Director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship at Kaiser Permanente, Family Practice Physician for Kaiser Permanente and Chairman of the Exercise is Medicine Advisory Board. The keynote talk, entitled, “The Importance of Connecting Fitness with Healthcare,” was a compilation of startling facts highlighting the dismal state of our healthcare system combined with the overwhelming evidence for exercise in the prevention of degenerative conditions including, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, depression, osteoporosis, dementia and heart disease. As healthcare spending has risen over 800% in the last 50 years, Dr. Sallis spoke to the importance for the integration between the healthcare system and the fitness industry to tackle what has been called a pandemic of physical inactivity leading to the staggering costs of healthcare delivery in this country. As I sat in the audience, I couldn’t help but remember a time working in the clinical setting when exercise was not considered vital to a patient’s success and getting patients to exercise regularly was not part of the treatment plan. Yet, years later, here is evidenced-based data suggesting the opposite. Having worked in both the healthcare field and fitness industry for 30 years, I admit feeling a sense of vindication. Yet I can speak for many fitness professionals, we are frustrated at the lack of momentum for recognition within the healthcare system. There is a chasm between the fitness industry and the healthcare system; the burgeoning question is how can a more cohesive relationship exist between the two? I recently had a conversation with Dr. Sallis on this topic. The cost of fitness services is the barrier most mentioned in discussing exercise with his patients. As such, he strongly advocates for health insurance companies to begin reimbursing the cost of fitness professional services. This would require a cohesive effort amongst the wide and varied healthcare and fitness industry stakeholders. The primary barrier to address the issue of reimbursement is the lack of cohesiveness amongst the copious number of fitness organizations. The fitness industry remains a fragmented lot. With the staggering number of certifying agencies, it is confusing for the consumer and the physician. “I am confused by all the certifications,” stated Dr. Sallis. He went on to say this issue of certification is less important to him than the ability for the professional to communicate, motivate and get results for his patients. There is no governing body to oversee standards of practice for fitness professionals.  Certifying agencies compete with each other for membership and certification offerings. They are closed off from each other thereby leaving their members to fight for respect in the healthcare system on their own. Insurance reimbursement will help the patient get a leg up on physical activity. Oftentimes this leg up is the first step for a patient to see possibility in a life of activity. Reimbursement would also directly address the demonstrated value of physical activity on health status. However, personal trainers tend to develop a sense of dependence on the part of the client. A trainer tells the client what to do, which, in my opinion, disempowers the client for lasting change. For lasting change, the patient needs to understand from within the bigger vision of why exercise can be important for them. The issue at hand is behavior change-a lifelong endeavor. This is where the health coach comes in. According to the CDC, health behaviors (smoking, diet and exercise) contribute more to overall health status than genetics, environmental factors or access to medical care.  And although there is much discussion and disagreement among health professionals regarding the best foods to eat, as Dr. Sallis succinctly states, “We may not all agree on the “right” diet, but we can all agree that physical activity is crucial for health.” The International Consortium for Health and Wellness Coaching was formed with the input from over 70 representatives from coaching schools and organizations. The ICHWC believes health and wellness coaching is “the change agent that shifts the culture and delivery of healthcare from dependency to empowerment.” As stated on their website, “Our most fruitful accomplishment was to navigate a winding path toward consensus among many individuals and organizations representing widely divergent viewpoints.” According to Margaret Moore, founder of the Wellcoaches School of Coaching, it took seven years and numerous collaborative efforts and vigorous discussion to agree on what constitutes a qualified health coach.  Issues including education and credentials, job tasks and scope of practice had to be agreed upon for a cohesive statement to ensue. This is what organizations can accomplish by overcoming their bias and self-interests for the betterment and advancement of their industry. To further push for recognition, the ICHWC formed a partnership with the National Board of Medical Examiners to launch a National Board Certification for Health and Wellness Coaches. According to the NBME website, this credential, “allows healthcare professionals, patients, employers and educators to identify practitioners who have demonstrated knowledge, skills and abilities essential to health and wellness coaching.” The time has come for change. As with the collaborators in the ICHWC, the fitness industry needs to form a consortium of leaders from the industry, from organizations, educational institutions and the medical field to bring to the table the desire for recognition and professionalism in the field. Using the ICHWC model, this mobilization of like-minded individuals with varied backgrounds can strengthen not only these organizations but the future of the fitness industry as a whole. The fitness industry stakeholders remain resistant to unite for the advancement of the profession in the healthcare setting. With the staggering amount of evidenced-based data supporting exercise and health status, fitness professionals can no longer play small in what ultimately is a disservice to insurance policy holders and the public at large. As a certified fitness professional and certified health coach with a master’s degree in exercise physiology, I no longer look to the fitness industry for direction and support.  I look forward to sitting for the National Board Certification for Health and Wellness Coaching exam later this year. MELISSA WOGAHN is the author of Off the Couch: How to Find Joy in Physical Activity Even if You Hate to Exercise.

On May 19 ,2017 the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine published our article entitled “Compendium of health and wellness coaching literature.”   The paper is available to all as an open-access publication and can be found at: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1559827617708562 The Compendium is a thorough collection of peer-reviewed literature on the topic of health and wellness coaching (HWC).  The paper describes how the Compendium was built while also providing an overview of results presented in the HWC literature. The authors (G.A. Sforzo, M.P. Kaye, I. Torodova, S. Harenberg, K. Costello, L. Kuo, A. Faber, B. Frates, and M. Moore) applied an operational definition of HWC that emerged from a 2013 SYSTEMATIC REVIEW and then collected 219 articles representing a detailed compendium of most everything written about HWC in the scientific literature since 2000. The HWC Compendium is organized into two parts with Part A containing 150 data-based research papers and Part B containing 69 commentary/position/review papers.  The Compendium is current through June of 2016 and each part (A and B) is sub-divided into categories for cancer, cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, obesity, and wellness. The columns of Part A spreadsheet provide the reader with many details about each article, including a brief critique and results. The number of HWC papers on obesity and diabetes management are greater than 30 and about half are randomized and controlled trials (RCT) – the type of research often cited as the most powerful and convincing.  The Wellness category also contains over 30 articles but within it resides several topics too small to be given a separate category.  In Wellness you can find HWC papers on fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and glaucoma, as well as numerous papers on risk-factor reduction (e.g., smoking cessation).  The point is, no matter what kind of HWC research information you seek, the Compendium is organized to help you find what you need. There is a lot to learn from perusing and exploring the Compendium. The Results Summary provided in each patient/client category generally support the positive benefits of HWC.  The findings are particularly well-detailed in patients who have diabetes and obesity. Although less extensive, the potential quality of life benefits from HWC for cancer patients is also impressive.  While the authors do provide some cautionary critique and call for more research, the consensus theme speaks of advantages gained through HWC intervention. A major purpose of the Compendium is to assist health and wellness coaches (especially Wellcoaches) as well as researchers of HWC.  The information in the Compendium can be used to understand how different client/patient presentations are treated with HWC and to potentially get ideas on how to work with a client you are seeing.  For someone interested in doing HWC research the Compendium will be an invaluable resource for searching literature and helping to identify gaps in the HWC research.  In other words, the Compendium is a new tool available to help the HWC profession. The Compendium project was fully endorsed and supported by Wellcoaches.  Margaret (Moore) provided invaluable impetus for this work and it would not have happened without her encouragement and guidance.  Wellcoaches aims to be a driving force behind projects such as the Compendium, helping to advance not only the Wellcoaches family but the coaching profession in general.

In August 2017, the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine published our article entitled “INTEGRATING HEALTH COACHING WITH A MEDICAL FITNESS PROGRAM TO TREAT CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS.”   Brad Roy, Ph.D. is the lead author of this work and it is co-authored by other members of his Kalispell staff (Pam Roberts, M.D., Cathy Lisowski, M.S.), Miranda P. Kaye,Ph.D., as well as Wellcoaches Research Advisor (Sforzo). Journey-to-Wellness (J2W) Program is offered by a multidisciplinary team at The Summit Medical Fitness Center in Kalispell, Montana.  The team includes nutritionists, exercise physiologists, physicians, nurses, and wellness coaches serving hundreds of patients who are managing lifestyle-related medical disorders (e.g., diabetes).  During the period studied in the published article, J2W treated 1,306 patients and each averaged between four and five coaching sessions in a three-month period.  Their patients averaged about 53 years of age and were all referred to J2W by a primary care physician.  Patients suffered with a wide range of disorders including heart disease, obesity, chronic pain, and cancer to name a few.  The researchers measured many outcomes (see below) before and after the three-month intervention. Findings from the J2W program were extremely encouraging.  With just three months of J2W participation, those with chronic pain, obesity, cardiac problems, and even cancer improved on four or more outcome variables.  Reports of better health status and quality of life were evident across all 12 diagnostic categories studied. Patients with obesity and chronic pain may have benefited the most from J2W with improvements in 13 of 14 outcome measures. Those patients who may have the most to gain from a reduction in fat deposition (diabetic, pre-diabetic, obese, hypertensive) experienced strong changes in all body composition-related variables. It is clear J2W was a highly effective wellness endeavor in a short period of time.  Medical fitness programs can be successful but J2W exceeded expectations.  Is it possible wellness coaching was the added ingredient to spur on the highly positive results. In an effort to isolate the effects of coaching in J2W participants, the researchers compared outcomes achieved by those patients with more or less coaching.  Those completing more than four sessions reported greater improvements in quality of life, and health status, than those exposed to less than four coaching sessions in three months.  Furthermore, nutrition behaviors and weight management also tended to be better for participants with more than four sessions. Many other outcomes were not clearly affected by greater amounts of coaching.  Ultimately, the researchers essentially concluded it is difficult to separate out the independent effects of coaching in J2W – it is a fully integrated medical fitness program.  The value of coaching was agreed to be even beyond the positive statistical findings and not easily quantifiable. The highly successful Journey-to-Wellness Program has health and wellness coaching as a key and fully integrated component for patient intervention.   It is both exciting and affirming to see Wellcoaches-trained coaching professionals working daily with a diversity of patient presentations at the Summit Medical Fitness Center.  You can read all about this work in the most recent edition of the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. Source Roy, B., Roberts P., Lisowski C., Kaye, M.P., & Sforzo, G.A.  “Integrating Health Coaching with a Medical Fitness Program to Treat Chronic Health Conditions.”  American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine.

In September, 345 Wellcoaches coaches walked into computer testing sites nationwide and completed the national board certification examination for health and wellness coaches (NBC-HWC). All had studied diligently, pouring in their best efforts. Some weathered hurricanes or their aftermath to be there. Most completed a Wellcoaches exam preparation course steeped in our love of coaching competencies and their many nuances. Many were nervous (having not taking exams for a long while), including Wellcoaches faculty and team members. Four or so hours later they emerged. The examination, eight years in the making, was challenging and covered the bases. There was a collective sense that we had together made a beautiful leap forward, setting a robust standard for health and wellness coaches. Then for a month or so, everyone awaited their results. Examination results arrived in October as Wellcoaches coaches were gathered together at the Institute of Coaching conference in Boston and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine conference in Tucson. Together we celebrated a big milestone. We also felt compassion for those who didn’t pass and were deeply disappointed. All of our Wellcoaches faculty and mentors and nearly all of the Wellcoaches coaches passed. Strong together, faculty, mentors, operations team, and Wellcoaches-certified coaches, we delivered an A+ performance – a 97% pass rate. What wonderful evidence for our GOLD STANDARD and the high value and impact of our Wellcoaches training and certification programs. If you are a Wellcoaches coach and didn’t pass the exam, we want to assure you that you are close. Please contact us – we are here to support you in passing the examination in the future. While a stellar accomplishment, this is just a beginning. Please join the Wellcoaches coaches who led the way for the next examinations in 2018. Together, and in collaboration with the whole field, we are lifting our field of health and wellness coaches onto high ground – wonderful outcomes and job opportunities by helping thousands transform their health, well-being and lives. Congratulations and much love to the Wellcoaches family and community. GREAT JOB!! Wellcoaches leads with DUAL CERTIFICATION With the arrival of the national board certification, for which we worked tirelessly to build for eight years, you lead our field with the dual certification – certified wellcoach® and NBC-HWC. Here’s why Wellcoaches coaches are leaders and why the Wellcoaches credential will continue to be the most sought after by employers and medical organizations including our partners, the American College of Sports Medicine and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine: – Stellar A+ performance of Wellcoaches coaches in the national board certification examination – Wellcoaches requirement for education in health-sciences, a higher certification standard than the national board certification. – EVIDENCE BASE of large scale application of Wellcoaches protocol, as published in our peer-reviewed Coaching Psychology Manual – Continuous innovation of coaching processes, theories and constructs by masterful faculty – including the soon-to-launch WELLCOACHES HABITS, and LIFESTYLE MEDICINE COACH in collaboration with ACLM – Coach membership program to enjoy world class continuing education, professional development and tools including the web coaching platform. Last, we make the dual certification easy: – Certified Wellcoaches, who are also Members during their entire certification period, renew their Wellcoaches certification for free. – Your Wellcoaches membership delivers the 36 continuing education hours required for your national board certification every three years. – Your Wellcoaches certification dates will be synchronized with your national board certification dates. Onward and upward! Coach Meg

Executive or leadership coaching is now an EVERY-DAY ACTIVITY in the life of many leaders, helping them grow and develop beyond what they can do without an expert facilitator of change. The now-common experience of coaching impact on leaders is igniting interest in learning coaching skills, pioneered in the book LEADER AS COACH twenty years ago by Hicks and Peterson, and more recently popularized by the new book THE COACHING HABIT (Bungay Stanier). Wider dissemination of coaching skills and development of a COACHING CULTURE is emerging in recent years. A COACHING CULTURE is particularly relevant to the healthcare industry where workforce health and population health depends on everyone making sustainable change – fully engaged in self-care and healthy lifestyles. Healthcare leaders are called to navigate, even better create, disruptive change which often needs to start with SELF-DISRUPTION. None too late in our age of accelerations when external change is changing, and faster than humans can change. It’s TIME FOR EVERYONE, NOT JUST LEADERS, TO GROW FASTER to avoid burnout and keep up, even get ahead of external forces of change. That means living and thriving ON THE GROWTH EDGE, like what happens in a good coaching session. Harvard psychologists Bob Kegan, Lisa Lahey and colleagues recently published a book titled “AN EVERYONE CULTURE” on becoming a deliberately developmental organization. One of the book’s lessons is that a coaching culture is one where there is an investment in balancing … performing at a high level to produce strong results, and growing to develop the capacity for even better results in the future It’s hard to welcome growing as equal to performing. Growing takes time to cultivate. It is sometimes awkward and clumsy as people experiment with new mindsets and behavior. As a nonlinear process, growing is unpredictable – even the best coaches can’t predict the timing of transformational insights or shifts and the conditions that might generate small and large shifts. My work life has placed me at the interface of coaching (as a coach and trainer) and leading (three organizations and a larger field). Distinct from my pre-coaching career in biotechnology, I’m now using coaching skills as a leader. But first I went through many clumsy, awkward phases, shifting from: the expert/boss who is directing and advocating to a cultivator of others’ self-determination the driver’s seat to the passenger seat attached to the expert/boss identity to serving others first being in charge to pulling back to observe and reflect seeing what’s wrong to appreciating what’s strong critiquing and judging to accepting (I mean really accepting) Like other leaders who have become coaches, I’ve grown to a higher level of consciousness, resonating with the emerging movement of CONSCIOUS LEADERSHIP OR CAPITALISM: 1. Quickly embracing missteps and turmoil as opportunities to grow, instead of getting down on what everyone did including me to produce the turmoil 2. Getting excited about messy chaos as a signpost to pursue change, instead of wishing for more control or certainty 3. Loosening the grip on any wishes, goals or agenda to allow the unpredictable, nonlinear growth process to unfold 4. Being calm and detached when assumptions and syntheses are overthrown by events and I don’t know what to do 5. Entering a state of wisdom and grace when the inner and outside worlds are not wise or graceful This has all led me to teach a refresh of the longstanding model of TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP (Bernard Bass) to include self-transforming leadership as well as coaching and self-coaching competencies. A quick map of the coach approach to the four “I’s” of transformational leadership looks like this: Idealized influence – modeling self-transformation Inspirational motivation – inspiring others to be visionaries Individual consideration – coaching everyone to grow Intellectual stimulation – open, accepting, risk-taking, creative, evolving mind Coaching is the new leadership. Sometimes you lead. Sometimes you coach. What are the growth edges? Know how to do both and when to do what. Learn about COMMON GROWTH EDGES: LEADER TO COACH More on habits of transformational leaders: WWW.WELLCOACHESHABITS.COM WATCH TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP WEBINAR (Password: Leadership)

New AHA Scientific Statement: Advancing Physical Activity with a Clear Call for Coaching Skills On April 4, 2018 the American Heart Association (AHA) released a new scientific statement entitled “Routine Assessment and Promotion of Physical Activity in Healthcare Settings” published in Circulation 1.  This paper is available to all as an open-access publication and can be found at: HTTP://CIRC.AHAJOURNALS.ORG/CONTENT/EARLY/2018/04/03/CIR.0000000000000559 This AHA scientific statement provides concrete evidence on the risks of a sedentary lifestyle while presenting an argument for assessing a patient’s physical activity status at every  office visit.  The logic is that we routinely gauge other risk factors (e.g., obesity, smoking, blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol) but we do not typically make a standardized measure and record of sedentary lifestyle or physical activity (PA) level; the message from the AHA is we need to have a “PA vital sign.”  There is substantial discussion of PA questionnaires, and leveraging the popularity of wearable activity monitors, as tools for measuring PA levels.  After making a strong case for regularly assessing PA, the authors (Felipe Lobelo, Deborah Rohm Young, Robert Sallis et al.) emphasis shifts to how healthcare professionals can help patients improve PA.   They note effectiveness, albeit limited, of various strategies and concluded a multilevel approach is necessary to improve our collective PA need.  The AHA authors added, brief physician counseling combined with a referral system promoted improvements in patients’ PA and were also cost effective, i.e., results support a favorable return-on-investment (ROI). The article then begins to recognize potential barriers to widespread integration of PA assessment in clinical settings.  Poor training, scarce resources, and omni-present financial matters are identified and thoroughly addressed.  It is at this point when the paper first considers the patient’s perspective, suggesting the primary-care provider should briefly counsel (1-2 min) on PA while, if possible, employing shared-decision making, motivational interviewing, and other proven behavioral strategies. This notion is immediately countered by a possible lack of time, and/or knowledge, for using these interventions.   The recommendation then turns to physician referral………but to whom?  There is mention of a patient navigator or exercise professional taking over as the lead in PA promotion, but also a clear recognition of the need for special skills to deliver behavior-change counseling.    The AHA statement recognizes some individuals are not ready to immediately begin exercising – some are “in precontemplation” exploring the possibilities of increases PA while some others are in “contemplation.”  This reference by the AHA to coaching skills, and the Transtheoretical Model’s stages of change, provides a clear opening for Health and Wellness Coaches to step through!  Nurses, physical therapists, and exercise professionals are mentioned in the AHA statement, but most of these professionals are not fully prepared with coaching strategies to help patients aiming for behavior change ……….but a health coach is exactly what the doctor can (and should) order! It is evident from this AHA scientific statement there is a perceived void in the medical system.  There is a need for physicians to be able to refer their patients to someone who can professionally and effectively help with behavior change.  Ample evidence for health and wellness coaches as effective behavior change agents for all types of patient populations exists in the evidence-based literature (see the Compendium of Health and Wellness Coaching Literature2).  It should (and must) be made clear that Health and Wellness Coaches are most prepared and able to fill this perceived void while promoting positive behavior change and advancing patient care.  There really is not a void – it just needs to be more apparent that we (health and wellness coaches) are here and ready to do the job.  This AHA scientific statement on physical activity represents a major force in the health-care industry making a bold and potentially monumental set of recommendations.  If you can, take the time to read the AHA Scientific Statement, and, pay particular attention to opportunities for professional health and wellness coaches to play a big part in being as a solution to major obstacles identified in the proposed plan. References 1. Lobelo F, Rohm Young D, Sallis R, et al. Routine Assessment and Promotion of Physical Activity in Healthcare Settings.  doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000559 2. Sforzo GA, Kaye MP, Torodova, I, et al. (2017). Compendium of health and wellness coaching. Am J Lifestyle Med. Published On-line First. doi: 10.1177/1559827617708562.