Effect of motivational interviewing-based health coaching on employees' physical and mental health status

Motivational Interviewing (MI) based health coaching is a relatively new behavioral intervention that has gained popularity in public health because of its ability to address multiple behaviors, health risks, and illness self-management. In this study, 276 employees at a medical center self-selected to participate in either a 3-month health coaching intervention or control group. The treatment group showed significant improvement in both SF-12 physical (p = .035) and mental (p = .0001) health status compared to controls. Because of concerns of selection bias, a matched case-control analysis was also performed, eliciting similar results. These findings suggest that MI-based health coaching is effective in improving both physical and mental health status in an occupational setting.