Optimizing Employee Engagement & Mental Health with Health Coaching
Health coaching is one of the most powerful tools for unlocking holistic health and wellbeing. Even though the term has been around for over 20 years, the REAL, impactful health coaching we deliver continues to gain traction daily. As a leading organization providing health coaching services to the global population, we’ve long been aware that more data is needed to showcase the undeniable and irreplaceable benefits of health coaching. That’s why today, we’re thrilled to unveil our first Observational Outcomes Study – an analysis of real-world data highlighting the impact of health coaching on employee engagement and mental health support.
Our study evaluated 150 randomly chosen individuals who participated in health coaching sessions with YourCoach.Health validated, certified health coaches over a two-month period. Each participant vocalized unique challenges – including workplace stress, chronic health conditions, relationships and career transitions – and distinct goals – like enhancing emotional resilience, improving career stability, achieving a better work-life balance, and addressing loneliness and social isolation.
Our team collected (inferred by a trained large language model) baseline and final results, using scientifically validated tools including GAD-7 and RAQ-8 scores. Today, we’re excited to share the key findings from this observational outcomes study, which reveal the profound impact that health coaching can have on psychological well-being and social connectedness.
Participants saw a significant decrease in stress.
One of the most common challenges employees face both in and out of the workplace is managing stress. Especially in today’s fast-paced world, it’s not realistic to live a stress-free life. Instead, it’s important to cultivate the tools to manage stress when it arises, effectively decreasing its physical, mental and emotional impact.
Health coaches are experts in helping individuals with this particular hurdle, and we absolutely saw this echoed in our data. Not only did participants experience an 17.9% decrease in their GAD-7 scores, which is used to assess anxiety disorders, but they also saw a 10.8% increase in RAQ-8 scores, an evaluation used to show how well one can recover from stress. These results show that health coaching helps individuals cultivate lasting stress management strategies that shape them for success in and outside of work.
Participants developed self-efficacy and a sense of control over their health & wellbeing.
One of the reasons why health coaching is so incredibly effective is because it shows people that they have the power to take control of their health and wellbeing. Through the science-backed guidance of a YourCoach health coach, individuals were able to implement behavior change that catalyzes better holistic health outcomes, whether that’s managing stress or maintaining a healthy weight, setting boundaries at work or getting better sleep at home.
One of the most encouraging findings in our study was that self-efficacy scores, measured as GSES (General Self-Efficacy Scale) scores, increased by a healthy 9.6%. Through health coaching, they were able to strengthen their belief in their own ability to effect change. Not only that, but we saw a 13.1% increase in locus of control scores. This improvement indicates a move towards believing that they’re more in control of their own choices and no longer feel their circumstances were entirely dictated by external forces, but rather by their own choices and actions. This newfound sense of control fosters empowerment and supports long-term success when it comes to individuals’ health goals but also can be translated to their productivity, confidence and satisfaction at work.
Participants bolstered traits that reinforce positive workplace behaviors.
In the workplace, traits like openness to new ideas, conscientiousness, and emotional stability play a critical role in career advancement and overall job satisfaction. Health coaching utilizes techniques that, over time, reinforce positive traits that are core to behavior change and de-emphasize negative ones. We saw this firsthand in our data, which also focused on the specific positive and negative traits that might have the most impact in the workplace.
Overall, we noted an average increase of 5.8% in positive traits that include openness and conscientiousness and a decrease of 6.8% in negative traits like neuroticism. The positive change in these traits not only enhances individual performance and makes it more possible to achieve health and wellbeing goals, but also contributes to creating a more productive and harmonious work environment, benefitting both the individuals and their teams.
Across the board, 64.8% of participants saw improvement in their emotional sentiment scores, indicating a shift towards more positive emotional states. Most notably, employees who began the study with a negative emotional outlook saw an impressive 16.3% improvement as extrapolated by Plutchik’s emotional framework. This shift highlights the power of health coaching not only to reduce stress but to significantly improve overall emotional wellbeing, which is critical for personal and professional growth.
The findings from our first Observational Study confirm what we’ve long known: REAL health coaching delivered by validated and certified YourCoach health coaches has a profound and measurable impact on holistic health and well-being. These benefits extend beyond individual health outcomes; they translate into more engaged, present, productive, and emotionally resilient employees. This is precisely why we firmly believe every employee not only deserves, but needs access to a health coach. If you’re an organization who’s interested in learning more about how we can deliver the power of REAL health coaching to your employees, clients, and/or members send us a note to team@yourcoach.health.
This report is the first of many on our continued quest to reinforce why health coaching is so essential in our health & care industry. We’re excited to continue unveiling important findings like this moving forward.