Wellness Coaching to Improve Lifestyle Behaviors Among Adults With Prediabetes: Patients’ Experience and Perceptions to Participation

Health and Wellness Coaching has been shown to enhance treatment outcomes in the primary care setting. However, little is known about the experience and perceptions of patients who worked with a wellness coach as an integrated member of their primary health-care team. This project assessed patients’ experience and obtained their perceptions on barriers and facilitators to participation in a primary care–based wellness coaching program. A survey was mailed to 99 primary care patients with prediabetes who participated in a 12-week wellness coaching program. Sixty-two (63%) completed the survey; responders felt that participation in the wellness coaching program helped move them toward healthier lifestyle behavior and created a personal vision of wellness. Major themes associated with participation were supportive coaching relationship, increased self-accountability, increased goal-setting, and healthy behavior strategies. No significant barrier to participation was reported. Participants reported highly positive experience with the program; how to best integrate health and wellness coaching into the primary care setting needs to be explored