The Effects of Health Coaching for Frequent Attenders

The Effectiveness of Health Coaching for Frequent Attenders in the Primary Healthcare

The purpose of the study was to describe and evaluate the effectiveness of health coaching on health-related quality of life, adherence to health regimens, clinical health outcomes and lifestyle factors among frequent attenders in primary healthcare.

The quasi-experimental research method evaluated the effectiveness of health coaching among frequent attenders in primary healthcare. The experimental group received the health coaching and the control group received the usual care. The data were collected with pre- and posttest 12-month follow-up via a questionnaire of FINRISKI2012, RAND-36 and ACDI and clinical health outcomes measured by health-coaching nurses. The data were analyzed by statistical methods.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients who had face-to-face visits to the physicians in the local primary healthcare centre at least seven times during a 12-month period
• Aged 18 years or older
• Able to read and understand Finnish

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients´ visits due to pregnancy or delivery
• Patients´ visits due to serial treatment for the same disease
• An inability to give informed consent
• Involving in another study intervention at the same time