Health Coaching Training (‘The Wessex Coaching Initiative’) Evaluation

The University of Winchester was commissioned by NHS Thames Valley and Wessex Leadership Academy to carry out an evaluation of training in health coaching delivered to staff at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Hampshire County Council and Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. The training was delivered by The Performance Coach between April and October 2015 at a range of venues across the Wessex region. Staff members (n=144) from across the three organisations carried out core skills training. A Train the Trainer programme in health coaching was undertaken by a small group (n=8). The evaluation involved the combined use of telephone interviews, face to face interviews and focus groups to capture as many views from staff as possible. A Clinician Activation Measure was also administered to assess the degree to which clinicians support patient self-management. The main focus of the evaluation was changes in behaviour and performance resulting from health coaching and how learning was applied by participants. Also reported were improvements and impact at a broader, organisational level.