The Study of Health Coaching: The Ithaca Coaching Project, Research Design, and Future Directions

Health coaching (HC) is a process holding tremendous potential as a complementary medical intervention to shape healthy behavior change and affect rates of chronic lifestyle diseases. Empirical knowledge of effectiveness for the HC process, however, is lacking. The purposes of this paper are to present the study protocol for the Ithaca Coaching Project while also addressing research design, methodological issues, and directions for HC research. This is one of the first large-scale, randomized control trials of HC for primary prevention examining impact on physical and emotional health status in an employee population. An additional intent for the project is to investigate self-determination theory as a theoretical framework for the coaching process. Participants (n=300) are recruited as part of a campus-wide wellness initiative and randomly assigned to one of three levels of client-centered HC or a control with standard wellness program care. Repeated measures analyses of covariance will be used to examine coaching effectiveness while path analyses will be used to examine relationships between coaching processes, self-determination variables, and health outcomes. There is a great need for well-designed HC studies that define coaching best practices, examine intervention effectiveness, provide cost:benefit analysis, and address scope of practice. This information will allow a clearer definition of HC to emerge and determination of if, and how, HC fits in modern-day healthcare. This is an exciting but critical time for HC research and for the practice of HC.