A diabetes health coach can help you create a plan that’s tailored to your lifestyle and health goals, as well as improve your blood sugar and adjust your eating habits.
If you’re living with type 2 diabetes (T2D), you may have a primary care doctor, an endocrinologist, and maybe a certified diabetes care and education specialist (CDCES). But if you’re finding it hard to manage your blood sugar levels, you may want to consider an addition to your care team: a health coach.
Health coaching offers a patient-centered approach to diabetes management that focuses on your decisions and behavior. Some research suggests that health coaching can help people with T2D improve their hemoglobin A1C and their eating habits.
T2D is a complex condition with many aspects of care to consider, from blood sugar monitoring to diet and nutrition. But there are many resources available to help you. In addition to your healthcare team, you may benefit from working with a diabetes coach.
Diabetes health coaching is emerging as a promising way to support people with diabetes. A coach
Health coaching emphasizes patient-driven goals, ongoing diabetes education, and self-discovery.
A health coach focuses on social support and problem-solving skills for people with T2D. A health coach may already be a CDCES, or they may have a coaching certification through the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching.
Many health coaches are also registered dietitians (RDs). Typically, RDs provide medical nutrition therapy by making specific nutritional recommendations to manage T2D. Health coaches, on the other hand, can help you make behavioral changes to successfully incorporate these nutritional recommendations.
Although health coaches can offer general nutrition education, it’s not within their scope to provide personalized dietary advice for diabetes management.
A diabetes coach is not the same thing as a CDCES.
“A health coach will focus on ways to change the behavior of the person with diabetes, using the seven topics of healthy coping, healthy eating, being active, taking medication, monitoring, reducing risk, and problem solving,” said Christina Whitehouse, PhD, AGPCNP, CDCES, FADCES, an associate professor at the Villanova University Fitzpatrick College of Nursing in Villanova, Pennsylvania.
A coach might help you analyze your diet and set goals and action plans. They might also talk with you about how and when to carry out these plans and goals and check on your progress with monthly calls.
Ultimately, a health coach can teach you how to use the skills you’ve learned in coaching to better manage your condition.
A CDCES can provide health coaching and set treatment recommendations and goals. They may also determine a specific amount of daily carbohydrates for you to consume and may work with your healthcare team to set blood sugar targets and manage your medication.
You may gain a variety of benefits from using a health coach.
In a 2021 study, after 6 months of coaching, people with T2D not only had a significant drop in their A1C but also began eating more vegetables and fewer meats, grains, fats, and oils. The researchers concluded that health coaching may help manage blood sugar and ensure that people with T2D eat a healthy diet.
“A health coach often uses motivational interviewing techniques to help the individual set and achieve the goals that the individual develops,” said Alison Massey, MS, RD, CDCES, of the Calvert Internal Medicine Group in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland.
“They may provide some general education, but not more specific direction on questions about medication management like a certified diabetes educator would do,” Massey added.
The requirements to be a diabetes health coach are not currently standardized. A peer coach, a health professional, or a lay health worker may provide care. Many coaching sessions take place remotely, which
Blood sugar regulation
The authors of a 2022 research review looked at randomized controlled trials of adults with T2D who received health coaching to see whether it improved their blood sugar regulation.
They found that after working with a health coach, people experienced a significant decrease in A1C levels and a significant improvement in fasting blood sugar levels. However, these benefits were not maintained during the long-term follow-up.
Other cardiometabolic outcomes
Working with a health coach may improve some cardiometabolic outcomes. For example, in a
Mental health
Health coaching may have a positive impact on mental health as well.
“Diabetes is 24/7, every day,” Whitehouse said. “Research shows that people with diabetes who work with a health coach have a reduction in depression and [may have] a reduction in diabetes distress.”
The best way to find a health coach may be to ask your doctor whether they can recommend one. Or you can ask around to see whether a friend or relative has used a coach they would recommend.
It’s important to choose a health coach who has the appropriate training.
You can also reach out to your health insurance company. Whitehouse noted that, in some cases, an insurance company might provide coaches for diabetes and other conditions.
“And if you have a flexible spending account, you will be able to use this on a health coach for diabetes,” she added.
Working with a health coach can have a positive impact on your A1C, your mental health, and your cardiometabolic health.
More research is needed on the topic, but if you’re looking for hands-on guidance on blood sugar management and healthier eating, you may want to ask your doctor for help finding a health coach.
“Both health coaches and registered dietitians can play different but important roles in supporting one’s journey to living well with diabetes,” Massey said.
