Becoming a diabetes health coach (or something similar)

You could get trained to run an x-Pert health franchise. they offer a low carb approach and are used by some localities to run diabetes education courses.https://www.xperthealth.org.uk/Educators
Having set up a diabetes walking and education group (no qualification) I've found that the NHS is very cagey about people without a recognised NHS profession offering anything that looks like clinical advice.
So as a group we offer a walk followed by a support meeting to discuss diabetes relevant topics around food and exercise. \We got support from the local authority and did persuade a local \GP to at least hand out the leaflets in her surgery.
OVer in the states Dr Jody Stanislaw (a naturopathic doc) offers type 1 coachng (she is one herself) so check her out as she does most of her stuff online. https://www.drjodynd.com/
I am sure there are plenty of lifestyle coaching qualifications you can get. As this isn't my day job I have not invested in that one but did do a more general online nutrtion coachnig course which is great! It is called \Precision Nutrtion.
https://www.precisionnutrition.com/ It is less about nutritional knowledge and more about helping people make sustainable changes.

Well done, a fantastic idea x

NicoleC1971 said:

You could get trained to run an x-Pert health franchise. they offer a low carb approach and are used by some localities to run diabetes education courses.https://www.xperthealth.org.uk/Educators
Having set up a diabetes walking and education group (no qualification) I've found that the NHS is very cagey about people without a recognised NHS profession offering anything that looks like clinical advice.
So as a group we offer a walk followed by a support meeting to discuss diabetes relevant topics around food and exercise. \We got support from the local authority and did persuade a local \GP to at least hand out the leaflets in her surgery.
OVer in the states Dr Jody Stanislaw (a naturopathic doc) offers type 1 coachng (she is one herself) so check her out as she does most of her stuff online. https://www.drjodynd.com/
I am sure there are plenty of lifestyle coaching qualifications you can get. As this isn't my day job I have not invested in that one but did do a more general online nutrtion coachnig course which is great! It is called \Precision Nutrtion.
https://www.precisionnutrition.com/ It is less about nutritional knowledge and more about helping people make sustainable changes.

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Hello Aby. I'm a Health & Wellness Coach with a Certificate in Professional Coaching Skills, MA in Coaching Psychology, 10 years experience in this field, and I am not medically trained so I may be able to help. (My husband has Type 2 insulin dependent diabetes hence why I'm a member of this site.) I have not heard of a specific diabetes health coaching qualification here in the UK. What qualification you end up doing depends on what you want to do as a diabetes health coach, how you see yourself working with people. What I see is different interpretations of what 'coaching' is. Some say they are 'coaching' but what they are actually doing is advising people on what to do and not to do and giving them information. According to the professional coaching bodies in this country, that isn't coaching (look at the International Coach Federation, ACA, and EMCC definitions for coaching). That's more along the lines of training, advising and consulting. But I appreciate people will have different interpretations of what 'coaching' is. If you want to train people on how to live well with diabetes, manage it effectively, and share advice based on your experience, you might be able to do this through a charity or support group possibly as a volunteer. And hopefully the charity would offer training to help you do this. - To be continued in a separate post

You could do a coaching qualification that is accredited by one of the professional coaching bodies (ICF, ACA or EMCC) and set yourself up as a coach that supports people with diabetes. There are a number of such coaching programmes here in the UK. A decent coaching qualification tends to be anywhere from 10-20 days of training. Or you could do a post graduate diploma or even a masters degree. This is the route I took and I focused the research for my masters on coaching people with medical conditions. I would steer clear of weekend programmes that promise you can work as a coach straight after. I would also steer clear of online programmes where you study on your own, do not have contact with others and do no coaching. Coaching is about developing a relationship and helping people to change in the ways they want to and learning how to develop that kind of relationship with a client takes more than 2 days of training or learning on your own. You can do nutrition coaching courses here in the UK such as the one mentioned above - Precision Nutrition. Based on Nicole's description, it sounds like that one may be more coaching based. In the UK we now have the UK Health Coaching Association (still need to join myself). It's a couple of years old and they're doing good work. They have training programmes listed on their website. A good training programme will be a balanced blend of the theory and experiential work, i.e. practicing the skills of coaching, getting feedback, coaching others and being coached yourself. If it's nutrition focused, it will also contain that element. Hopefully this info will help. If you have any questions, let me know. All the best! Barbara

I would also like to help people with Diabetes especially Type 2, as that was what I was, but at present in remission. My qualification are secretarial. I have worked with the public and with children and young people too, so I have some experience in 'public speaking' as such. I feel this type of work would be very satisfying for both coach and participant.

UNLESS you know what you're REALLY talking about (this subject or any other) then it's a disaster in waiting. There are no shortcuts to knowledge without a lot of work

Take a look at the Public health collaboration. PHC https://phcuk.org/ambassadors/

it might be a way you can help in your local area either with health professionals and or patients.

some diabetes.org groups are more inclined to see low carb as a useful option than others. Go along and see what your local one thinks. Offer yourself as an example successful patient to others already doing do take along as an example and to tell your story to their groups. All of these might be a starting point to help you explore exactly what what you’d like to do with your experience to help others

There are routes in to “coaching” as GP practices are becoming more aware of the benefits. No qualifications required, though the role might well be on a voluntary footing. I am exploring a route in via my Patient Participation Group.

abysimons said:

Hey,

Is there any kind of course on becoming a diabetes health coach or something similar? After a some careful research it only looks as if healthcare professionals can do the training? I'm not medically trained or wish to go through medical school to do this.

I was thinking of some kind of coaching qualification to help other diabetics?

Has anyone else looked into this and found anything?

Thanks,

Aby

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Hi @abysimons I think this is laudable but have to agree with @Mike D