The College of Nursing and Health Sciences at UCCS runs a course each spring that offers students a full health and wellness coach certification.
Over the semester, students in the program coach a professional client and a client from the UCCS community. Applications to be a part of the Peer Health Coaching program are available to faculty, staff and students. Students interested in becoming a health coach must enroll in the course offered in the spring semester.
According to Course Advisor Gina Burton, “once the students go through the course, they become certified health and wellness coaches.” The course is taught in person and includes 40 “live” hours to fulfill the certification requirement. The live hours on the course involve face-to-face meetings with clients and in-person instruction.
Students meet in a classroom in the Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Center to learn the basics of health coaching before they match with a client and begin working on a health plan with them.
After being matched with clients, students in the program create an individualized health plan to be covered over six coaching sessions during the semester. The in-person hours with clients help students in the program implement their learning. “They get to actually use the tools they’re learning about during the semester,” Burton said.
Burton encourages students to take advantage of the course if they have any interest in health coaching. After completing the course, students are able to start health coaching professionally. “Once the [spring] semester’s over, they have everything they need for the certification; [students] don’t have to worry about it after the semester,” said Burton.
The course is required for any student majoring in health care sciences but is also available to students in different fields. For all students, there is a pre-requisite of Health Behavior Change, HSCI 3201. The pre-requisite can be fulfilled by another psychology theory class with instructor approval, according to Burton. Non-majors need instructor approval to enroll in both Health Behavior Change and Health Coaching, HSCI 4650.
For students unsure whether or not they want to become a certified health coach, there is an asynchronous version of the course offered in the fall that does not provide students with a health coach certification. The asynchronous version offers an overview of health coaching but doesn’t have any in-person coaching requirements.
The certification course originated five years ago at the Wellness Center, when Burton and the previous director of the Wellness Center designed the course together. After the COVID-19 pandemic, it was made a part of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.
Anyone interested in being coached by the students must also apply to be a part of the peer health coaching program. Client spots are filled on a first-come, first-served basis, and the application is merely a way to connect interested parties with student health coaches.
Burton asks that interested students reach out to her at [email protected] for more information.
The Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Center. Photo courtesy of Tradeline.