As the professional body for health coaching and health coaches, UK & International Health Coaching Association is committed to advancing the evidence-based discipline and modality of health coaching for preventive and proactive healthcare, sustained lifestyle and behaviour change and for preventing and potentially reversing lifestyle-related conditions.
Our vision is for every individual to be empowered to manage their own health and wellbeing and to thrive in life. We want to see a health coach in every health care practice within the private and public sector, in communities, schools, colleges and in the workplace.
Health Coaching: A ‘Whole Health’ Approach
There are a variety of terms to describe the discipline and modality of ‘health coaching’ and health coaches: health and wellness coaching/es; health and well-being coaching/es; wellness coaching/es; well-being coaching/es.
UKIHCA has adopted the term ‘health coaching’ as a unifying whole-health concept to cover all the above descriptors.
UKIHCA and its members are committed to playing a leading role in the movement for whole-health creation – a movement which considers the impact of the unique bio-psycho-emotional-social-spiritual-environmental factors on individual health, reaching out across borders to influence the development of international professional standards and the profession of health coaching globally.
Unpinning the UKIHCA Professional Standards for Education and Training in Whole-Health & Wellbeing Coaching is the concept of whole-health. We believe that a whole-health approach, rooted in each individual finding purpose, meaning and community is fundamental to sustaining lifestyle and behaviour change. As we better understand the impact of context and lifestyle on every aspect of our health, a professional health coach equipped with a 360-degree lens, with a broad base of health knowledge and an understanding of the power of the multiple determinants of health and lifestyle-as-medicine, together with highly skilled coaching techniques for sustainable behaviour change, is a critical resource in the task of empowering people to participate in and sustain their own whole-health creation.
As our understanding evolves, UKIHCA Approved Members and UKIHCA Registered Health Coaches will be equipped with this context, knowledge and skills not only to work competently with individuals and groups, but to build the bridges and open the doors to create the connections and foster relationships that will enable and encourage fellow health care practitioners and all professionals with an interest in improving population health, to work collaboratively across every discipline and sector to empower people, communities and society to create whole-health at every level.
Advancing the profession of health coaching
As the global and national health landscape unfolds, there is no doubt that new and exciting potential for health coaching and health coaches is emerging.
The focus on personalised health places health literacy, lifestyle and sustainable behavioural change at the heart of whole-health creation in the UK and internationally. As the design and delivery of health and social care embraces a person-centred approach, health and wellbeing initiatives are becoming patient/client-led, equipping individuals with knowledge and empowering them with a sense of personal autonomy and responsibility, self-accountability and community.
Appropriately qualified and skilled professional health coaches trained to robust standards and working within a clear scope of practice, will be key enablers of this endeavour. To ensure health coaches are well equipped to achieve their potential and contribution, professional standards for training providers delivering health coaching education and training must be grounded in these basic principles:
- creating an evidence-based foundation for a safe and effective practice
- defining and articulating a clear scope of practice
- establishing the core competencies expected at graduation
- setting a clear benchmark to align all education and training provision for ‘health’ or ‘health and wellbeing’ coaches
- ensuring education and training provision for health coaches is delivered to a minimum standard of safety and effectiveness
- ensuring institutions and organisations delivering health coaching education and training have appropriate quality assurance processes in place
- securing and optimising the investment made by students when embarking on health coaching education and training programmes
- cultivating confidence in defining and articulating the profession of health coaching and the role of its professionals
- ensuring that professional standards are culturally understood and represent an industry benchmark
- cultivating a collective understanding of the nature and quality of health coaching education and training and its provision across a multi professional contexts and industry stakeholders
- contributing to and progressing the establishment of a unified Register for all health coaches working in different sectors, accredited independently by the Professional Standards Authority
- safeguarding the public and elevate public confidence in the practice of health coaching professionals.
The UKHCA is committed to these principles and to leading the development of the profession of health coaching.
Click on a tile to learn more about each Pillar
Using the Standards
The Standards are intended for use by:
Training Providers
Training Providers of full health coaching qualifications use the Standards for course development and delivery. The Standards set out a foundational curriculum for professional health coaching education and training programmes. Full course training providers must show that their course meets the Standards to be approved by the UKIHCA. In meeting the Standards, training providers demonstrate a commitment to high-quality professional training and the ongoing development of the profession, equipping graduates to practice safe and effective health coaching.
Continuing professional development (CPD) is a key requirement for a professional health coach. The Standards can also be used by training providers to guide the development of CPD content creation. They are a benchmark for the UKIHCA to approve CPD for health coaches.
Health coaches
UKIHCA full members demonstrate that they have met the competencies set out in Pillars B, C and D of the Standards, either through graduation from one of the UKIHCA-Approved health coaching training programmes, or through successful completion of one of the alternative routes to full membership. Ongoing agreement to practice in accordance with these competencies is a requirement of the UKIHCA Register of Professional Health Coaches.
Employers and commissioners
The Standards and related scope of practice indicate to employers and commissioners the level of training, competency and boundary of practice for UKIHCA Registered Professional Health Coaches. We encourage any organisation employing or commissioning a health coach to be familiar with the level and content of their training.
Other stakeholders
As the person-centred approach to healthcare develops, the content and depth of professional health coaching education and training is of increasing interest to a range of industry stakeholders internationally, including insurance companies, private health care providers, professional bodies and governmental organisations and agencies.
Health practitioners
It is increasingly common for health coaches to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team or integrative practice. The Standards can support other health practitioners in fully understanding the role of the health coach and how health coaching can be an integral part of a health care service.
UKIHCA Standards Review Group
UKIHCA’s Standards Review Group is a collaborative, international cross-industry working group. Members include experienced health coaches, healthcare practitioners, clinicians, educators, thought leaders and key stakeholders from across the health space.
The purpose of the group is to support the development and maintenance of robust professional standards for education, training and career progression pathways for health coaching.
The UKIHCA Standards have been developed with reference to frameworks published by the following organisations: NHS England in the UK, National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching in the USA, Singapore Society of Behavioural Health, International Coaching Federation and European Mentoring and Coaching Council.
If you wish to discuss the UKIHCA Professional Standards for Education & Training in Whole-Health & Wellbeing Coaching, please reach out to standards@ukihca.com and one of the team will be happy to help.