A health coach is a personal coach who helps clients set goals (i.e. to better manage stress, improve mood and energy, lose weight and much more) and aids the client in reaching those goals. Health coaches help their clients learn how to develop a positive mind set, and how to make appropriate diet and lifestyle changes.

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Health coaching is NOT about providing the same cookie-cutter health plan to all of their clients. Health coaches realize that each individual is unique and may require different support to be successful. They encourage and help their clients to find what diet and lifestyle changes will work best for them.

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A good health coach will hold his/her clients accountable for the goals they have worked together to create. You should be able to consider your health coach to be a partner in your health who has your best interest at heart; someone you can talk to about your health journey who will provide honest feedback and help you work through obstacles that will come along the way.  

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When working with a health coach, it’s a good idea to consider what your health goals are. This means examining where are you at in your health journey and where you want to be. What do you want your healthy future to look like? This gap is often ignored by traditional healthcare. Unfortunately, traditional healthcare does not tend to focus on preventative health either.

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Typically health coaches are different than other nutrition and wellness experts (like a dietitian or nutritionist) in that their scope of practice is different. Health coaches cannot prescribe diet plans to clients. What health coaches can do is focus on a holistic approach to health and wellness. It’s not just about diet and exercise. It’s important to pay attention to other areas of your life that have an impact on your health like your relationships, your career and your environment. This is really what makes them so special and a valuable asset to your healthcare team.

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The coaches at Empowered Medicine take health coaching a bit further in that we have Medicine Coaches as well as Health Coaches. Our Medicine Coaches are Clinical Pharmacists who specialize in helping clients review their medication therapies for appropriateness, effectiveness, drug interactions, cost, and potential side effects. Your medication regimen will be compared to national guidelines for common chronic conditions (i.e. type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart failure...etc). Our pharmacists can then help you relay the findings to your health care provider and provide them with any recommendations they may have.