Group Health & Wellness Coaching: development and validation of the required competencies.

BACKGROUND: As the popularity and demonstrated effectiveness of Health and Wellness Coaching (HWC) continue to grow to address chronic disease prevalence worldwide, delivery of this approach in a group format is gaining traction, particularly in healthcare. Nonetheless, very little empirical work exists on group coaching and there are currently no published competencies for Group Health and Wellness Coaching (GHWC). METHODS: We used a well-established two-phase (Development and Judgment) process to create and validate GHWC competencies with strong content validity. RESULTS: Seven highly qualified Subject Matter Experts systematically identified and proposed the GHWC competencies, which were then validated by 78 National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coaches (NBC-HWCs) currently practicing GHWC who rated the importance and use frequency of each one. The validation study led to 72 competencies which are organized into the structure and process of GHWC. CONCLUSIONS: GHWC requires not only coaching skills, but significant group facilitation skills to guide the group process to best support members in maximizing health and well-being through self-directed behavioral change. As the presence of HWC continues to grow, it is imperative that GHWC skill standards be accepted and implemented for the safety of the public, the effectiveness of the intervention, and the value analysis of the field. Such standards will guide curriculum development, allow for a more robust research agenda, and give practical guidance for health and wellness coaches to responsibly run groups. High quality standards for GHWC are particularly needed in health care, where a Level III Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) code for GHWC has been approved in the United States since 2019 and reimbursement of such has been approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid for 2024.

Psychosocial Predictors of Breast Self-Examination among Female Students in Malaysia: A Study to Assess the Roles of Body Image, Self-efficacy and Perceived Barriers.

BACKGROUND: Early detection is a critical part of reducing the burden of breast cancer and breast selfexamination (BSE) has been found to be an especially important early detection strategy in low and middle income countries such as Malaysia. Although reports indicate that Malaysian women report an increase in BSE activity in recent years, additional research is needed to explore factors that may help to increase this behavior among Southeastern Asian women. OBJECTIVE: This study is the first of its kind to explore how the predicting variables of self-efficacy, perceived barriers, and body image factors correlate with self-reports of past BSE, and intention to conduct future breast self-exams among female students in Malaysia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Through the analysis of data collected from a prior study of female students from nine Malaysian universities (n=842), this study found that self-efficacy, perceived barriers and specific body image sub-constructs (MBSRQ-Appearance Scales) were correlated with, and at times predicted, both the likelihood of past BSE and the intention to conduct breast self-exams in the future. RESULTS: Self-efficacy (SE) positively predicted the likelihood of past self-exam behavior, and intention to conduct future breast self-exams. Perceived barriers (BR) negatively predicted past behavior and future intention of breast self-exams. The body image sub-constructs of appearance evaluation (AE) and overweight preoccupation (OWP) predicted the likelihood of past behavior but did not predict intention for future behavior. Appearance orientation (AO) had a somewhat opposite effect: AO did not correlate with or predict past behavior but did correlate with intention to conduct breast self-exams in the future. The body image sub-constructs of body area satisfaction (BASS) and self-classified weight (SCW) showed no correlation with the subjects' past breast self-exam behavior nor with their intention to conduct breast self-exams in the future. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study indicate that both self-efficacy and perceived barriers to BSE are significant psychosocial factors that influence BSE behavior. These results suggest that health promotion interventions that help enhance self-efficacy and reduce perceived barriers have the potential to increase the intentions of Malaysian women to perform breast self-exams, which can promote early detection of breast cancers. Future research should evaluate targeted communication interventions for addressing self-efficacy and perceived barriers to breast self-exams with at-risk Malaysian women. and further explore the relationship between BSE and body image.