Nationwide: Studies Support Value Of Health Coaching

Two new studies suggest that providing one-on-one attention may help some individuals improve their health.

Nationwide Better Health, an arm of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Columbus, Ohio, supplied the health coaching services that researchers used to study the effectiveness of individualized wellness programs.

One study, conducted by researchers at Vanderbilt University, involved a sample of Vanderbilt employees who had heart disease risk factors.

Researchers put some employees in a control group. Those employees received one feedback session with a nurse about their risk factors and also received information about and access to Vanderbilt’s free worksite health promotion programs.

The other employees were enrolled in Nationwide Better Health’s health coaching program.