Review article
Long-term effectiveness of health coaching in rehabilitation and prevention: A systematic review

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2017.04.012Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • This review describes the long-term effectiveness of health coaching interventions.

  • Out of 90 RCTs, 14 studies were included.

  • The high number of studies underlines the relevance of this approach.

  • Six studies proved statistically significant long-term effectiveness.

  • A research gap exists in regard to the long-term effectiveness of health coaching.

Abstract

Objective

This systematic review aims to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of health coaching interventions in rehabilitation and prevention.

Methods

Databases and a manual search were used to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in English through to June 2015. Studies were included if: (1) the target population were people of employment age, (2) the intervention addressed either people suffering from a diagnosed disease or healthy people, (3) the intervention included health coaching to influence health-related outcomes and/or processes and (4) the study had a follow-up of at least 24 weeks after the end of the intervention period.

Results

Out of 90 RCTs, 14 studies were selected using the inclusion criteria: seven were designed for the rehabilitative setting and seven for the preventive setting. Three studies of each setting found statistically significant long-term effectiveness.

Conclusions

The high number of studies evaluating health coaching underlines the relevance of this approach. Despite the increasing popularity of health coaching, a research gap exists in regard to its long-term effectiveness.

Practice implications

It is of utmost importance to consider the sustainability already during planning of health coaching interventions. The involvement of the target group and the setting seems to be a promising strategy.

Abbreviations

BMI
body mass index
CBT
cognitive behavioral therapy
CCM
collaborative care model
CG
control group
d
day
DPP
diabetes prevention program
DS
Delphi score
h
hour
HbA1c
glycated hemoglobin
HC
health coaching
HDL
high-density lipoprotein
HE
health education
ICD
international classification of diseases
IG
intervention group
LDL
low-density lipoprotein
MDD
major depression disorder
MI
motivational interviewing
min
minute
mo
month
n.s.
not significant
PMT
protection motivation theory
PICO
population, intervention, comparator, outcome
PRISMA
preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses
PST
problem solving technique
RA
rheumatoid arthitis
RCT
randomized controlled trials
SCT
social cognitive theory
T2DM
type II diabetes
we/wk
week

Keywords

Health coaching
Effectiveness
Long-term
Randomized controlled trials
Systematic review

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