All authors are members of the Board of Directors of the National Consortium for Credentialing Health and Wellness Coaches, a 501c3 (NCCHWC). We would like to acknowledge the contribution of the rest of the NCCHWC Board of Directors Michael Arloski, PhD; Linda Bark, PhD, RN; Michael Burke, EdD; Richard Cotton, MA; Roy Elam, MD; John Livingstone, MD; Cindy Schultz, MA; and Teri Treiger, RN, MA. In addition, we thank Barbara Dossey, PhD, RN; Jody Hereford, MS, RN; David Rychner, EdD; and Linda Smith, PA-C, MS for nominations to the JTA and additional input into the knowledge and skills needed for curriculum. Finally, we are especially grateful to the JTA Subject Matter Experts: Linda Bark, PhD, RN; Kenly Brozman, MS; Olivia Cerf, MS; Jody Hathaway, BS; Julie Kosey, MS; Shannon Levitt, MS; Melissa Mapes, BA; Meghan Rector, BS; Lynne Reveno, MS; Cindy Schultz, MA; Ryan Sherman, MS; Debra Sun, MS; Jim Tillman, DDiv; and Darlene M Trandel, PhD.
Funding
No funding was providing for the development and writing of the paper itself. The cost of the JTA was paid by NCCHWC.
Availability of data and materials
We would be happy to make available as supporting files an anonymized version of the JTA SME surveys as well as the validation study.
Authors’ contributions
RQW and MJ conceived the paper and drafted the manuscript. All four authors reviewed the data provided by the JTA consultant. KL and MM revised the manuscript, adding critical information regarding the background and methods. RQW and MM created the tables. RQW revised the manuscript. All four authors added relevant references, gave approval of the final manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Competing interests
Disclosures: Ruth Wolever, PhD; Associate Professor, Dept. of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Vanderbilt Schools of Medicine & Nursing; Director of Vanderbilt Health Coaching, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine; At the time of submission and prior to 9/1/15: Associate Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine; Director of Research, Duke Integrative Medicine; Ruth serves as the Chief Scientific Advisor to eMindful, Inc., holds a contract with Samueli Institute and grants from the US Air Force, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and Nurtur for research that entails health coaching. Additional funding relevant to health coaching in the three years prior to the submission of this paper include grants from the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (now National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health), the Bravewell Philanthropic Collaborative, the Duke Center for Personalized and Precision Medicine and Glaxo Smith Kline.
Meg Jordan, PhD, RN; Department Chair and Professor, Integrative Health Studies
California Institute of Integral Studies; mjordan@ciis.edu
Disclosures: Meg is funded by a grant from Aetna Foundation for health coaching research, chairs a graduate degree in integrative health and health coaching at California Institute of Integral Studies, and is on the Advisory Board of Mevident, a corporate wellness program. Speaking fees over the past three years were provided by the Integrative Healthcare Symposium and the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine.
Karen L. Lawson, MD, ABIHM, Assistant Professor & Director of Integrative Health Coaching, University of Minnesota, Center for Spirituality and Healing; lawsonk@umn.edu
Disclosures: Karen directs a graduate health coaching degree program at University of Minnesota, has a small contract from Samueli, and has no outside grant support. Speaking fees over the past three years were provided by Blake schools in Hopkins, MN; the Symposium of Integrative Medicine Professionals in the Land of Enchantment (SIMPLE) at the University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM); a preconference workshop at the American Holistic Medical Association (Minneapolis, MN); the University of Wisconsin (Milwaukee); the NY Times ‘Health for Tomorrow—Medicine, Research, Policy, Wellness’ conference (San Francisco, CA); Allina’s Cardiovascular Nursing Conference (Edina, MN); GlaxoSmithKline at the American Health Insurance Plans meeting (Salt Lake City, UT); and Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives; Harvard and Culinary Institute of America (Napa, CA).
Margaret Moore, MBA, Chairman & CEO, Wellcoaches Corporation; Co-Director, Institute of Coaching, McLean Hospital, Faculty member of Harvard University Extension School; margaret@wellcoaches.com
Disclosures: Margaret is Founder and CEO of Wellcoaches Corporation, consultant to the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, Curves/Jenny Craig and has a small contract from Samueli. Speaking fees over the past three years were provided by Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield Mississippi, Harvard School of Public Health Healthy Kitchens Healthy Lives Conference, the Maryland Academy of Advanced Practice Clinicians, Mather Lifeways, Harvard Publishing Conference (Harvard Medical School), German Coaching Congress (Basel), New England Region Grant Managers, Maine Association of Diabetes Educators, American College of Preventive Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Medical Fitness Association, Utilization Review Accreditation Commission (URAC), Wellness Integration & Engagement Conference, Association of Career Professionals, National Health Service (UK) Institute for Innovation and Improvement, The Conference Board, Inc., American College of Sports Medicine, Brookhaven Senior Living, University of Delaware, American Journal of Health Promotion, General Practice Psychotherapy Association (Ontario, Canada), Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Carevolution, Brazil, Greater Pittsburgh Psychological Association, Obesity Medicine (Harvard Medical School), WELCOA Wellness Council of Wisconsin, Diabetes Educators of Massachusetts, MDVIP (concierge primary care), Empresas Promondo (corporate health promotion company in Chile), Medical Fitness Association, Ithaca College, Cayuga Medical Center (Ithaca), American Association for Thoracic Surgery, International Coach Federation’s Coaching Science Conference, Institute of Lifestyle Medicine, Joslin Diabetes Center,WHMU Medical Center (White House), International Coach Federation Global Conference, Sweden, DBC Pri-Med, LLC, American College of Lifestyle Medicine, Medical Fitness Association, Harvard/MIT Learning and the Brain Conference, Israeli Coaching Congress, and the California University of Pennsylvania.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
It is customary for the 12–15 selected SMEs who provide the JTA input, as well as those who validate the JTA, to do so without the provision of informed consent. For examples, see references [25–27]. While the coaches did provide background information for our reporting, the rest of the data collected is about the tasks used in coaching rather than being data about the individuals themselves. As such, the JTA and validation data were not considered human subjects research and no ethics committee was utilized. All SMEs did provide written permission to report their demographics and acknowledge them.