Most patients satisfied with telephonic health coaching

(HealthDay)—Most individuals who participate in telephonic health coaching are satisfied and report that health coaching helped them achieve their weight-related goal, according to a study published Oct. 31 in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Preventing Chronic Disease.

Sara R. Adams, M.P.H., from Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Oakland, and colleagues surveyed participants in a 2011 telephonic coaching program regarding their satisfaction with health coaching and perceived success with program goals. Patient-level correlates of these outcomes were assessed.

Analyses were based on 32 percent of participants who completed the survey. The researchers found that of the 232 participants (52 percent) who had completed two or more coaching sessions, most (70 percent) were satisfied or reported feeling neutral (20 percent) with the program. The majority (71 percent) would recommend health coaching. The most common topics discussed were healthy weight, healthful eating, and physical activity (88 percent). Of those who had two or more sessions, 73 percent reported that the health coaching helped achieve their weight-related goal, after adjustment for demographic characteristics. There was a positive correlation between outcomes and patient activation, but no consistent correlation with demographic characteristics.

"Levels of satisfaction and perceived success with telephonic health coaching provided by a health plan were high and positively correlated with the number of sessions completed and patient activation," the authors conclude.

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