Health Coaches: You Can't Fake Human Connection
- Andrew Stephenson
- Oct 3
- 3 min read
Real People. Real Results.
Tech can be efficient and full of info, but in most cases, a lack of information is not the problem; the problem is in appropriately filtering the information to glean what's most relevant and then finding the inspiration to action what you've learned. This is where a coach, a real human, someone who's built trust and a personal connection and to whom you feel a sense of accountability can make all the difference!
The core foundations of a healthy lifestyle to mitigates our population's risk of chronic disease are well known. There's no magic bullet. Health is built and maintained primarily by consistent healthy habits around what we eat, how much we move, how well we recover (physically and mentally), connecting with a community and avoiding or minimizing risky substances. Why then are we not all healthy? Of course it's complex, but it's probably fair to say that in our modern environment, the odds are stacked against us. We're not immune to marketing and modern stressors and conveniences... to put it simply: For the vast majority it's just easier not to always be thinking of being proactive about managing health.
It doesn't mean people don't want to be healthier. It just means people don't think they have time for it; don't think they can afford it; can't be bothered to filter through all the nonsense influencers to figure out how to actually do it.
This is where health coaches are so valuable! They bring health back to being front of mind. They help filter all the noise, and help you understand what is relevant and achievable for you. And then with consistency and guidance, they provide the right mix of encouragement and accountability.
What's that like in the real world? Well, it sounds a bit like this:
"I am so happy to receive your messages... you are a blessing in the kindness, support, and inspiration. Your incredible knowledge is helping me to learn and understand the changes I can make to improve my health. Thank you for listening as well. I know I am just one of many... but you lift all of our hearts and give us the strength to keep going."
Note that it's not just the value they get from the health information - they genuinely acknowledge the joy of the human connection.
These are the types of comments our onsite health coaches get all the time, and it's not just from a few employees - on a routine basis through our onsite health and wellness programs, our health coaches engage with 80-90% of our client's entire workforce.
Employees genuinely get to know and trust our health coaches. They become like a part of your team, and with this level of connection and consistent contact, the collective shifts in health culture (and more importantly, health risk prevalence and outcomes) is profound.
An average of 60-70% of all employees in populations where we have onsite coaches have taken action or attempted health lifestyle behavior changes. Not everyone is successful all the time - this is the real world after all - but the impact at the group level is significant, with demonstrated reductions in almost all major modifiable health risks, and accompanying reductions in average medical spending.
You can't fake human connection, and I think people value it now more than ever.
So if you have any goals around:
improving your employee experience,
improving employee engagement,
improving employee health and wellbeing,
or trying to mitigate rising health costs,
You should consider looking into capable health coaching for your employees as a win-win-win-win!
To learn more about HBD's 30 years experience leading the industry in global workplace health promotion and to see real-world client population health risk change and ROI data, please contact us - and a real person will get back to you!
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