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

Background: 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.

Objective: This project assessed patients' experience and obtained their perceptions on barriers and facilitators to participation in a primary care-based wellness coaching program.

Method: A survey was mailed to 99 primary care patients with prediabetes who participated in a 12-week wellness coaching program.

Results: 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.

Conclusion: 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.