A Health Coach is someone who supports and guides their clients, empowering them to make a particular health or behaviour change to achieve a wellness goal, by offering guidance and keeping their clients motivated and accountable.
A wellness goal could include anything from better stress management to giving up smoking to having improved sleep hygiene to making healthier choices throughout a day.
This qualification will give you the understanding, essential underpinning knowledge, and the skills to allow you to practise as a Health Coach. You will acquire the skills to deliver personalised care as part of a health coaching programme, in order to promote the health and wellbeing of individuals, groups, and communities.
You will learn how to:
- carry out a personalised care consultation in order to support your clients to identify their health and wellbeing priorities
- assist clients in recognising the factors that might be affecting their health and wellbeing, and identify any barriers that are holding them back from achieving their goal
- develop and implement an achievable action plan to achieve their goals and overcome any barriers.
Underpinning knowledge includes behaviour change models, principles of behaviour change, and related tools and techniques.
Qualifying as a Health Coach will allow you to make a real difference to a client's life by helping them improve their choices in relation to health and wellbeing.
Health Coaching is a stand-alone career but it also sits perfectly alongside professions such as personal training. It will allow you to offer a fully comprehensive and more in-depth support to your clients to aid their progress.
This course is blended and has a combination of online self-study and face-to-face teaching on campus.
Dates and times
This is a part-time course with sessions running once a week between:
- Saturday 20th April 2024 to Saturday 23rd November 2024.
While the final class is Saturday 23rd November the final deadline for submission of work is Friday 31st January 2025.
Theory - modules one to five
Modules one to five will run:
- Saturday 20th April to Saturday 9th November 2024.
These modules will be delivered online, via a combination of pre-recorded sessions and online live classes.
The timing of the live classes will vary but typically start at 10am and run into the early afternoon. A more detailed timetable of timings is available on request by emailing Short Courses .
Additional dates to note include:
- holiday dates will be from 3rd August to 24th August 2024 in which there will be no classes.
Practice and Reflection - module six
Throughout November there will be four and a half hours of pre-recorded online sessions to view.
There will be two sessions delivered in-person on campus on:
- Saturday 16th November 2024, between 10am-6pm
- Saturday 23rd November 2024, between 10am-6pm.
Following the final session on 23rd November you will work independently to complete four case studies for assessment. The final submission date is Friday 31st January 2025.
Location
The course will be delivered through a combination of pre-recorded online lectures and online live lectures, plus in person sessions at our main campus, in Twickenham.
Online live lectures will be recorded. Nevertheless, to fully benefit from the course we expect you to attend as many live online lectures as possible to be able to participate in case study analysis, workshops and discussions that will enrich your training as health coach.
Price
The full cost is £950. The deposit cost is £50.
St Mary's University staff and students can book with a 10% discount via the discounted short courses page (St Mary's login required).
Content
During the practical sessions, you will coach, be coached, observe coaching in action, and you will be required to build a portfolio of evidence.
You will be taught using a variety of teaching materials including:
- slides
- quizzes
- lectures from leading experts
- video content
- practical sessions.
Whilst enrolled upon the Health Coach course you will study the following four mandatory units:
- The Principles and Concepts of Health Coaching
- The Wider Determinants of Health and Health Inequality
- Theories of Behaviour Change, Principles of Motivational Techniques and their application to personalised care
- Conduct a Personalised Care Consultation.
You will be taught the theoretical elements throughout modules one to five, and the practice in module six.
The modules will cover a wide range of topics and themes to include:
- Foundations of Health and Wellbeing for Health Coaches (module one)
- Foundations of Public Health Promotion and Nutrition for Health Coaches (module two)
- Foundations of Benefits of Movement for Health Coaches (module three)
- Foundations of Health Coaching and Personalised Care (module four)
- Foundations of Entrepreneurship and Business for Health Coaches (module five)
- Foundations of Coaching Practice (module six).
Assessment
This course is assessed via written assignments, observations, and case studies.
Requirements
It is recommended that learners should have achieved a level of education equivalent to five GCSEs at grades A*-C prior to commencing the RSPH Level 3 Certificate in Health Coaching, however exemptions may be made for adult returners with experience of the workplace.
Award
Upon successful completion of this course candidates will be awarded a Level 3 Certificate in Health Coaching from The Royal Society for Public Health. You will be able to practice as a Health Coach and will be eligible to join the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) which entitles you to use MRSPH after your name.
You will also be able to apply to become an affiliate member of the UK and International Health Coaching Association (UKIHCA).
Book your place now
For more information about this course please contact the Short Courses team: