Benefits of Wellness Coaching
Why Every Chiropractor Should Offer Wellness Coach Services On-Site
Aug 30, 2009
An emerging field, Wellness Coaches help people with goal setting, lifestyle choices, and are concerned with the whole person's wellness.
Enhanced Patient Education Opportunities
To the uninitiated, a chiropractor’s services are reserved for managing back pain, assistance in accident recovery and other problem-solving services. What most chiropractors struggle with educating their patients about are the goals of prevention, an overall healthier lifestyle, and the importance of regular chiropractic care in strengthening the immune system and alleviating nerve interference for optimal results.
Short of little pamphlets in the office waiting room, most chiropractors simply do not have the time to instruct patients in the other benefits of receiving chiropractic care. Most patients do not have the opportunity to learn how their own choices in the foods that they eat, the exercise they do or do not undertake, and the other choices they make in their daily lives impact their overall wellness. Patients know how to survive, rather than how to thrive.
A Wellness Coach who is well-versed in the chiropractic philosophy, and who is able to communicate the idea of overall wellness life choices to patients is in a position to educate patients about the deeper benefits of receiving chiropractic care. “A Wellness Coach can support the patients and guide them in a one-on-one relationship and provide assistance in decision-making and goal-setting for optimal results,” says Melody Mayo, M.S., N.C.C. Wellness Coach for the Life University Center for Health and Optimum Performance in Marietta, Georgia.
Show Patients You Care About the Whole Person
By having a Wellness Coach on-site, Chiropractors can provide easy access to that support. It shows concern for the patient’s time and travel frustrations by providing the service there in the same office. And if the cost of the Wellness Coaching services is included in the price of the patient visit, it sends a message that the chiropractor is an advocate for each individual’s overall health.
The Wellness Coach also reiterates and reinforces a lot of the same messages that chiropractors tell their patients during regular office visits. When people hear information from more than one source, the information holds more weight and seems to be more powerful.
By giving patients the additional support that they need, chiropractors ensure that their clients have guidance and someone objective to talk with about their health concerns, even when the chiropractor is busy seeing other clients!
“A Wellness Coach can also provide resources or make suggestions that would be outside the realm of a typical nutritionist or personal trainer might give,” says Mayo. “For example, a wellness coach may suggest taking up a hobby, or provide meditative exercises to help the client manage stress or emotional concerns.”
Wellness Coaches Help Increase Patient Retention
Once the patients understand the benefits of preventive care, the long term benefits of receiving regular chiropractic care and the idea of taking care of mind and body as a whole, they will have a more well-rounded view of their own health and their own responsibility and role in maintaining it.
At the first signs of a head cold or the flu, these patients are more likely to attend the chiropractor for prevention, rather than going to the doctor for remediation.
"How much more do we get out of a human interaction!?" exclaims Mayo "If a client says ‘I don’t want to go to the gym today.’ There is someone there to ask ‘Why not?’ – perhaps this person doesn’t mind working out, but doesn’t like the gym! Then the Wellness Coach can suggest walking the dog around an extra block or taking up cycling instead. A wellness coach helps people sort through these kinds of roadblocks, and collaborates with people to find the best way to meet goals.”
 |
