Introduction to Health & Wellbeing Coaching
How we eat, sleep, feel or stay active affects how our bodies work and feel. This is known as wellbeing.
Research tells us that 80% of GP consultations are due to lifestyle-related diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure. Our Health & Wellbeing Team can help patients improve, and even reverse some of these chronic diseases through lifestyle interventions.
Health and Wellbeing Team
The Health and Wellbeing Team consists of a dynamic group of health coaches from varied backgrounds who have time to support and work with you, forming a thinking partnership. They will use the 4 main branches of lifestyle medicine – nutrition, physical activity, sleep and stress management as a basis to coach you. They can assist you to find the best solution to make a positive change in your life. The coaches will help you plan and create manageable steps to reach your health goals, improving your knowledge, skills and confidence along the way.
A coaching approach assumes that you are the expert in your own life. Health Coaching is about empowering you to take ownership and responsibility for your own health and wellbeing. There is a focus on your goals rather than the professional’s. It helps you to examine where you are now and where you want to get to, instead of exploring past issues. Rather than short-term change, we will work together to create improved wellness for life!
Benefits of Health & Wellbeing Coaching
- Non-judgemental – Our coaches live in the ‘real world’ and understand the real-life issues and challenges most of us face from time to time, better than most. We won’t tell you to drink avocado smoothies or do yoga everyday either!
- Led entirely by you– you are the expert in your own life. If you want to move forward and improve your physical, mental or emotional health and are ready and eager to commit to it, our coaches will be right behind you, every step of the way.
- Focused on the practical – This is about where you are now and where you want to get to. From there, your coach will help you plan and create manageable steps to reach your health goals, improving your knowledge, skills and confidence along the way.
Lifestyle medicine
Lifestyle medicine seeks to address the lifestyle factors around chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, respiratory and musculoskeletal conditions and mental health conditions.
The focus is on the person in front of us and their lifestyle including: physical activity, diet and nutrition, sleep, stress reduction, harmful substance reduction and healthy relationships. With around 80% of GP consultations focused upon preventable lifestyle conditions, there is a strong need for different conversations with patients, one that is in harmony with personalised care.
The Health and Wellbeing Team will utilise motivational interviewing and health coaching skills with patients to support sustainable healthy behaviour change.
Referral
Refer yourself or enquire by emailing wakccg.healthandwellbeingteam@nhs.net. One of the health coaches will then contact you for an initial assessment and an informal chat. If you do not have access to email, please ask one of the practice staff to make a referral for you.
More information
Visit the Wakefield Health Alliance website here for further information on the service
