The effect of a single visit to a health coach on perceived health in 50-year old residents in a high-income country – a randomised controlled trial

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the one-year-effect of a single visit to a health coach on perceived health and exercise level in 50-year-old citizens. DESIGN: One factor design randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Participants were randomly selected from the Swedish Population Register. SUBJECTS: 50-year-old residents of the town of Alingsås, Sweden (n = 105). INTERVENTION: The intervention group (n = 52) received a single one-hour visit to a health coach. The control group (n = 53) received no intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Change over 12 months in the SF-36 dimensions physical functioning, role-physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role-emotional, mental health, physical component summary and mental component summary. Reported health transition at follow-up. Change in exercise level. RESULTS: The control group changed their perceived health more favourable than the intervention group in the following dimensions of the SF-36; general health (p = 0.0055–0.025), role-emotional (p = 0.034–0.040) and mental component summary (p = 0.033–0.073). CONCLUSION: A single visit to a health coach does not improve perceived health or exercise-level in 50-year-old citizens. On the contrary it may make perceived health worse. KEY POINTS: Research on health coaching has emerged in the last 20 years, but is diverse and the characteristics of a successful health coaching intervention are still unknown. There is a lack of randomised controlled trials evaluating long-term effectiveness of health coaching. This randomised controlled trial concludes that a single visit to a health coach does not improve, but rather impairs, perceived health in 50-year olds.