Help Your Employees Get Back on Track with Health Coaching

The last few years have been tough, and it’s OK if we’ve all lost a focus on wellness. Employers and employees alike have had other serious priorities. However, now that activities, business, and social networks are back to normal, it’s a good time to reassess where you want to go with wellness. One way to navigate our current world is with the help of health coaching. For employers, it provides an easy, appealing tool for improving the well-being of your workforce. For employees, it’s an effective way to pick up where they left off in their personal health program.

What exactly does a health coach do?

A health coach is nothing like a fitness coach. There are no prescribed activities or items to accomplish. When you work with a health coach, you discuss the goals that are important to you and your coach helps you get there. It’s about motivation and encouragement, without judgement. Health coaching can cover any aspect of health that needs improvement, and through individual coaching sessions, will support the participant as he or she works toward their goal. If there are setbacks, the coach helps redirect and re-evaluate according to what will work best for the person – not according to any set guidelines. Health coaching also comes with reporting capabilities so that employers can track the health of their employee population (in aggregate).

What areas can a coach help with?

As we recover from the challenges of the last few years, employees each have their own areas of concern. Maybe they’re not sure about returning to the office or finances are causing stress. Maybe they’ve gained some weight after being at home for an extended time or need to catch up on preventive care that was put on the back burner. Coaching is a way to focus on what matters most to each employee. Many aspects of health intersect as well, such as diet and weight management, or stress and smoking. Because health coaches are well-rounded and certified, they can assist in any area of well-being. You can have confidence that their knowledge is evidence-based and grounded in the principles of motivational behavior change.

How do you access professional health coaching?

BeneFIT Corporate Wellness is an employer-directed well-being resource that’s part of the population health management firm, Populytics. The company’s overall goal is to improve individuals’ health on a population-wide basis, thereby reducing the disease and expense burden on the health care system. Health coaching is a specialty service of BeneFIT and is provided to employers across the country. The company maintains certified and board-certified health coaches, as well as clinical health coaches who work with individuals having chronic disease conditions. Signing up is easy and can be a valuable employee retention or recruiting tool for the employer. Most of all, health coaching helps employees live a happier, healthier life inside and out of work.