Standards for the education and training of Health and Wellness Coaches in the UK and Ireland are established and released.

Tunbridge Wells, England, United Kingdom—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: As the demand for Health and Wellness Coaching (HWC) increases across the UK and Ireland, the need for professional industry standards and a clear scope of practice has become imperative in order to reassure clients and partners of Health and Wellness Coaches of the quality, integrity, and professionalism of their credentials. This is particularly important given the easy availability and varying quality of health and wellness coach training programmes online. Stepping up to accomplish this monumental task is the first professional membership association in the world specifically dedicated to the advancement of HWC: the UK Health Coaches Association (UKHCA).

The need for properly-qualified Health and Wellness Coaches—working to a clear set of professional standards for HWC—is becoming increasingly urgent following the COVID-19 global pandemic, which has taught us the importance of lifestyle choices as people with chronic diseases—such as diabetes and obesity—are among those most at risk from dying of COVID-19. Chronic lifestyle diseases are overwhelming the NHS with the demands of an increasingly unhealthy population which puts an impossible burden on resources. HWC provide a potentially powerful solution by supporting and working with health care providers and empowering people to make lifestyle modifications and behaviour changes to prevent, manage, and potentially reverse lifestyle-related disease.

“Working with a professional Health and Wellness Coach is an empowering and often life-changing experience,” said UKHCA CEO Izabella Natrins. “It’s critical that all Health and Wellness Coaches are trained and qualified to high and robust standards. The new UKHCA Education and Training Standards for Professional Health and Wellness Coaching will mean our members will be amongst the best trained Health and Wellness Coaches in the world.”

A collaborative HWC Standards Review Group—led by UKHCA Standards Director Faye Hall and comprised of cross-industry professionals and academic advisors—has drawn up the UKHCA Standards for Education and Training for Professional Health and Wellness Coaching 2021 which are expressed through four pillars: Pillar A - Education and Training; Pillar B - Coaching; Pillar C - Health and Wellness; Pillar D - Professional Practice.

Each pillar defines the criteria for training content, taught knowledge and skills, performance, quality assurance, assessment, and competency. They are accompanied by an overview and guidance notes for training schools. These Standards—effective immediately—will be utilised as the basis for the UKHCA education and training schools’ programme approvals process for all new applications, as well as for existing schools upon renewal of their current UKHCA approved status.

The full set of standards can be viewed at https://www.ukhealthcoaches.com/images/UKHCA-STANDARDS-FOR-EDUCATION-AND-TRAINING.pdf

Standards Director Faye Hall describes the importance of having clear professional standards for Health and Wellness Coaching, “As a new profession emerges, there is a window of time available to steer and nurture the growth of that field of practice. In my experience, effective Health and Wellness Coaching has such potential to transform lives and improve the health of individuals and communities that the opportunity must be taken to ensure Health and Wellness Coaching is established as a highly-skilled, appropriately recognised career choice.

About Health & Wellness Coaching

As defined by UKHCA, Health and Wellness Coaching is a client-led, collaborative, and active process which aims to equip, enable, and empower an individual to respond and adapt positively to challenges in their internal and external environment, to create and sustain a state of resilience through the pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyle that cultivate that individual’s whole-health continuum.

A UKHCA Health and Wellness Coach is a whole-health professional and expert in lifestyle and behaviour change, partnering with clients who want to make sustainable lifestyle changes to improve their whole-health and wellness.

A UKHCA Health and Wellness Coach is a qualified, credentialed professional who upholds the highest of standards in health and wellness coaching for the UK and Ireland and who commits to adhering to a Scope of Practice specific to health and wellness coaching and to upholding a professional Code of Conduct specific to health and wellness coaching and to upholding a professional Code of Conduct.

About the UK Health Coaches Association (UKHCA)

Formed in September of 2017 by a dozen passionate health coaches who wanted to create a networking organisation for the emerging field of Health & Wellness Coaching in the UK and Ireland, the UKHCA dreamed of seeing a health coach in every GP practice from the outset. That vision has expanded over this last year under new leadership who have driven the development of a set of robust professional standards for the education and training of Health & Wellness Coaches, as well as establishing an appropriate scope of practice protocol for their membership.

The UKHCA is the professional association for Health and Wellness Coaching for the UK and Ireland, dedicated to raising awareness and understanding of the role of Health and Wellness Coaching as a credible and accessible modality for preventing—and potentially reversing—chronic, lifestyle-related disease. The UKHCA is the first professional association for HWC in the world. They are the only UK and Ireland resource dedicated to the advancement of HWC and to providing support and advocacy for Health and Wellness Coaches and their clients. Members of the UKHCA are fully-qualified and credentialed professionals who have satisfied robust professional standards and whom work within a defined scope of practice. They work independently and in collaboration with other engaged stakeholder groups to make a positive impact on the health of the nation.

As Health and Wellness Coaching increases in significance across the globe, the UKHCA is pioneering a pathway to establish Health Coaching as a recognised and respected modality in both public and private health care systems throughout the UK and Ireland.

The vision of the UKHCA is for every individual to be empowered to manage their own health and wellness and to thrive in life. They are working towards this through their mission, which is to serve as the professional body in the UK and Ireland for the advancement of health and wellness coaching, placing whole-health creation and sustainable behaviour change at the heart of preventing, managing, and potentially reversing lifestyle-related conditions.

For more information, please visit the UKHCA website at www.ukhealthcoaches.com/professionalstandards

CONTACT:
For further information and enquiries please contact The Chief Executive at media@ukhealthcoaches.com