Integrative Health Coaching provides an important link between self care and health care.

1. Integrative Health Coaching:
Bringing More Health to Healthcare
The Challenge: The Opportunity:
• Health care spending per person in the U.S. • Most causes of illness (at least 50%) are
is double that of several other major related to health behaviors (Source: US
industrialized countries, yet we continue to DHHS)
rank below many of them in terms of • Changing lifestyle could prevent at least
outcomes. Our premature death rates are 90% of all heart disease, our number one
68 percent higher than in the best- cause of mortality. (Source: Lancet:
performing countries.(Source: The September 2004)
Commonwealth Fund)
• 95 cents of every dollar spent on Health coaching
healthcare in 2008 was to treat diseases
after they had already occurred. (Source: provides an important
Expert testimony to the U.S. Senate link between health
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and care and self care
Pensions)
The Evidence:
• Patients who worked with a health coach over time improved their lifestyle risk factors
significantly more and faster than those who received usual care. (Edleman et. al (2006) A
multidimensional intervention to improve cardiovascular risk. Journal of general internal
medicine, 21(7), 728-734.)
• Patients with type 2 diabetes who worked with an integrative health coach significantly lowered
their Hgb A1C compared to those who received usual care. They also had significantly
improved self-reported treatment adherence, exercise, stress, and health status. (Woelver et al
(2010) Integrative health coaching for patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized clinical
trial. Diabetes Educator, 36(4), 629-39.)
• Children with asthma who worked with coaches showed decreased hospital admissions (45%),
decreased ER visits (17%), decreased primary care visits (19%), and decreased health care
costs per child per month (25%) when compared to children who received usual care. (Axelrod
et al (2001) A disease management program utilizing "life coaches" for children with asthma.
Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management, 8, 38-42.)
Meet the coach: Julie Alexander, MSN, RN, FNP
As an Integrative Health Coach, I partner with clients who
are committed to optimizing their well-being, and journey
with them as they achieve sustainable breakthroughs in their
health and vitality. Consistent with my training at Duke
Integrative Medicine, I base this powerful inquiry in a
comprehensive and holistic view of health. Having worked in
nursing and healthcare consulting for more than 25 years, I
am delighted to bring more health to healthcare through
individual and group coaching services.
For more information, please contact me at
julie@thecorepartners.com
Core Health Partners, PLLC