Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Do You Need a Health & Wellness Coach?

Why Hire a Health & Wellness Coach?

Many people want to know why they need or should hire a Health & Wellness Coach. "If I have a doctor, why do I need one?" they ask. Good question. Let's break it down. Let's say you go to your primary care MD for an annual physical. He does his exam, you have blood drawn, you have a short chat. In all you spend about 30 minutes in his presence. You try to remember to ask questions about what he tells you, however, sometimes you don't know the right things to ask. In a week or two he calls you with your test results and he tells you that your cholesterol is high, and your blood sugars are borderline high. "You're going to have to cut back on food and get some exercise," he mandates. You say, "OK," and the conversation ends.

Now what do you do? You mull his words over in your mind, and decide he's right. You haven't been exercising regularly, and you should be cutting out the desserts, frequent fast food, etc. "I'm going to get it together and push myself to lose weight, and get this done." You try to guess your way through what foods to eliminate and to figure out what kind of exercise to do. You try it for a week or two, but the balancing act and effort to accomplish these things in addition to everything else you have to do is daunting. Throwing your hands up in frustration, you yell at the ceiling, "I can't do this!"

Enter the Health & Wellness Coach

Health and wellness coaching is not a new concept or occupation. It is, in fact, the fastest growing sector of health care in the United States, according to an article on acclaimed health website "WebMD." Doctors can no longer keep up with the demands of running a medical practice and the education and mentoring that many of their patients require. Additionally, the role of a physician is to treat, whereas the role of a health and wellness coach is prevention and intervention in collaboration with a client's MD. While physicians are trained to advise patients about traditional treatment modalities for illness and disease, a health and wellness coach can offer education about alternative therapies and give a client choices outside a physicians normal scope of advice. Most importantly, a coach sets up plans and creates a consistent framework for healing. If a client needs daily or weekly mentoring and education, the coach can give the client an hour that a physician doesn't have to give due to the time constraints of his practice.

Do You Need A Health and Wellness Coach?

Most of us believe that we have the ability to self-educate and train ourselves to follow through with health and wellness goals. The real truth is that only 1-2% of us really follow through with our resolutions and goals to get and stay healthy. A Health and Wellness Coach can be the person you need to help you get on track and stay on track. While the services of a coach are still considered an "out of pocket" medical expense, some companies are allowing people to use their flexible medical spending accounts to cover the costs. There are also companies that employers hire to help their employees lose weight, quit smoking or keep their blood pressure and diabetes under control, often offering those services for free, with various incentives for adhering to the coach's recommendations.

Whatever your reasons and choices for hiring a health and wellness coach, you can be assured that with your consistent cooperation to the plan, you will be a much healthier you!

No comments: