Reflections of Health Coaching Narratives

This narrative focuses on a health coach collaborating with a physical therapist and working with the emotional needs of physical therapy patients, but anyone looking to improve health can use the strategies presented. Integrative health coaching incorporates vision and values into a person's goal-setting process. Health coaches provide resources such as journal writing to assist the healing journeys of patients as well as strategies for healthy people who want to make wellness behavior changes.

Well-being in Residency: Impact of an Online Physician Well-being Course on Resiliency and Burnout in Incoming Residents

Background and Objectives: Wellness in residency has come to the forefront of national graduate medical education initiatives. Exponential growth in knowledge and skill development occurs under immense pressures, with physical, mental, and emotional stressors putting residents at burnout risk. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires programs to attend to resident wellness, providing the structure, environment, and resources to address burnout. This study’s purpose was to evaluate the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine online Physician Well-being Course (PWC) with incoming postgraduate year-1 (PGY-1) residents in multiple residencies across a single health care system. The PWC teaches the learner strategies for building resilience, managing stress, identifying signs of burnout, and mindfulness practices including a self-selected daily 10-minute resiliency activity (meditation, gratitude journaling, and finding meaning journaling) for 14 days. Methods: Incoming PGY-1 residents were enrolled in PWC 1 month prior to 2018 orientation. Validated measures of resiliency, burnout and gratitude were completed pre- and postcourse. We assessed pre/postcourse changes with paired t tests. We asked participants whether they incorporated any wellness behavior changes postcourse. Results: Almost two-thirds of the incoming trainees completed the course (n=53/87, 61%). We found significant improvements (P<.05) for resiliency and burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization). Gratitude did not change. The personal accomplishment burnout scale declined. The most frequently reported wellness behaviors were in the area of sleep, exercise, and diet. Conclusions: Resiliency, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization improved, personal accomplishment declined, while gratitude remained the same. This project demonstrates an accessible and scalable approach to teaching well-being to incoming residents.

Static and Dynamic Factors Promoting Resilience following Traumatic Brain Injury: A Brief Review

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the greatest contributing cause of death and disability among children and young adults in the United States. The current paper briefly summarizes contemporary literature on factors that can improve outcomes (i.e., promote resilience) for children and adults following TBI. For the purpose of this paper, the authors divided these factors into static or unmodifiable factors (i.e., age, sex, intellectual abilities/education, and preinjury psychiatric history) and dynamic or modifiable factors (i.e., socioeconomic status, family functioning/social support, nutrition, and exercise). Drawing on human and animal studies, the research reviewed indicated that these various factors can improve outcomes in multiple domains of functioning (e.g., cognition, emotion regulation, health and wellness, behavior, etc.) following a TBI. However, many of these factors have not been studied across populations, have been limited to preclinical investigations, have been limited in their scope or follow-up, or have not involved a thorough evaluation of outcomes. Thus, although promising, continued research is vital in the area of factors promoting resilience following TBI in children and adults.

Student Athlete Wellness: Gender Perspectives

A study of wellness aspects among college student athletes at a mid-sized, church-related, undergraduate, liberal arts college in the upper Midwest was conducted during the 2006-2007 school year. The students were asked by their coaches and team leaders to complete the Wellness Evaluation of Lifestyle tool online. The study sample consisted of 273 college athletes, of which 131 were female and 142 were male. Female college athletes had the highest scores in the following areas: exercise, friendship, and love. The lowest areas were: spirituality, stress Management, nutrition and total wellness. The female athletes scored lower in 14 out of the 20 wellness behavior categories than the male athletes. In the areas of sense of worth, leisure and stress management, female athletes scored significantly lower than the male athletes. Male athletes scored the highest in the areas of exercise, sense of worth and friendship. Male athletes recorded their lowest scores in spirituality, nutrition, work and total wellness. The implications of this study for athletic programs indicate a need to address the specific needs of female athletes compared to male athletes, particularly tactics for dealing with stress, building self-esteem and the use of leisure activities.