Engaging Patients in their Health Care: Lessons From a Qualitative Study on the Processes Health Coaches Use to Support an Active Learning Paradigm.

Background: While recent health-care trends rely on activated patients, few studies report direct observations of to engage and activate patients to be full participants in their own health care. The interpersonal processes and communication strategies used in integrative health coaching (IHC) may offer important insight into how clinicians can help patients step into a more active learning model rather than more typical passive roles.

Objective: This study uses verbatim transcripts of medical patients' first few IHC sessions to identify the actual processes used to help patients embrace this more active learning role.

Integrative Medicine Strategies for Changing Health Behaviors: Support for Primary Care.

Until system reforms allow adequate time and reimbursement for primary care providers to focus on lifestyle change to prevent and mitigate chronic disease, primary care providers need a manageable, defined role to support lifestyle change. The authors suggest this role is to serve as a catalyst, priming the patient for change; educating and pointing the patient to appropriate, evidence-based resources for additional guidance and hands-on support; and providing ongoing encouragement throughout the long journey of change while patients work more intensely with health coaches or allied health providers.

Effects of tai chi chuan on anxiety and sleep quality in young adults: lessons from a randomized controlled feasibility study.

Objective: To determine feasibility and estimate the effect of a 10-week tai chi chuan (TCC) intervention on anxiety and sleep quality in young adults.

Participants: Seventy-five adults (18-40 years) from a predominately undergraduate midsized university.

Methods: This was an assessor blinded, randomized feasibility trial, and participants were randomized into one of three groups: 10 weeks of TCC meeting 2 times per week, 10 weeks of TCC with a DVD of the curriculum, and control group receiving a handout on anxiety management.

The Process of Patient Empowerment in Integrative Health Coaching: How Does it Happen?

Emerging healthcare delivery models suggest that patients benefit from being engaged in their care. Integrative health coaching (IHC) is designed to be a systematic, collaborative, and solution-focused process that facilitates the enhancement of life experience and goal attainment regarding health, but little research is available to describe the mechanisms through which empowerment occurs in the health coaching process. The purpose of this qualitative study is to describe apparent key components of the empowerment process as it actually occurs in IHC.

Integrative health coaching: an organizational case study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe integrative health (IH) coaching as developed in three different interventions offered through a major medical center, as a step toward further defining the field of health coaching.

Study Design: An organizational case study was conducted with document analysis and interviews.

Setting/participants: Interviewees were the first six IH coaches at Duke Integrative Medicine who provided 360 clients with individual and/or group coaching (two to 28 sessions) in a randomized clinical study and two work-site wellness programs.

The relationship between marriage and family therapists and complementary and alternative medicine approaches: a qualitative study.

In this article, we delineate the qualitative phase of a mixed-method research study focused on understanding the relationship between Clinical Members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) and complementary alternative medicine (CAM). Based on an analysis of the data derived from telephone interviews with 54 respondents, we describe four themes: definitional issues, depth of awareness of CAM, fit with MFT, and ethical considerations. Our discussion focuses on the findings of this phase, considerations from the quantitative phase, and reflections on the research study as a whole.

The relationship between marriage and family therapists and complementary and alternative medicine approaches: a national survey.

Respondents to a mail survey of a random sample (N = 424) of Clinical Members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy provided information about their contexts of practice, use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and relationships with CAM providers. Consistent with both national trends and the experience of psychologists as reported in a similar survey, the results of this survey suggest that marriage and family therapists have been affected significantly by and have a growing awareness of CAM practices. Limitations of the study and implications for the field are discussed.