scope of practice

overview & application

The following provides a scope of practice framework for UKIHCA-Approved and UKIHCA Registered Health Coaches, their clients and prospective employers.

UKIHCA-Approved and UKIHCA Registered Health Coaches adhere to a scope of practice specific to professional health coaching. A professional health coach practices within a recognised framework of competency, has the relevant professional qualifications, insurance and professional body membership.

Where a member practices additional wellness modalities or has dual or multiple professional health care qualifications, which they use alongside their health coaching services, there will be a separate scope of practice pertaining to each such additional services for which the UKIHCA holds no affiliation or responsibility.

The role of the UKIHCA and the duty of its members is to uphold practices that ensure professional health coaches’ practice responsible and legitimate to protect practising health coaches, their clients, and the profession.

‘Scope of practice’ refers to the boundaries of the process of professional health coaching and the rules that must be followed when engaging in related professional activity.

The boundaries of this Scope of Practice for UKIHCA-Approved Health Coaches and UKIHCA Registered Health Coaches are applicable to, but not limited to, the following professional activities:

coaching an individual
coaching a group
writing a blog or articles
holding or participating in webinars, speaking and educational events
communicating in online forums, meetings, with colleagues, peers, or other health care professionals.

The exception to this boundary is where a professional health coach holds active qualifications and related insurance in other related modalities and has clearly contracted accordingly with the client.

Scope of Practice of UKIHCA-Approved & UKIHCA Registered Health Coaches

What UKIHCA professional health coaches do:

Professional health coaches work with individuals and groups in a client-centred process to facilitate and empower the client to develop and achieve self-determined goals related to health and wellbeing.
Professional health coaches support clients in mobilising internal strengths and external resources, and in developing self-management strategies for making sustainable behaviour changes.
As partners and facilitators, professional health coaches support their clients in setting and achieving their own health goals and desired behavioural changes.
Professional health coaches support clients in implementing expert recommendations as prescribed by their professional health care providers.
Professional health coaches assist clients to use their own insight to gain new self-awareness and perspectives on their situation that enable personal change to occur.
Professional health coaches offer accountability for clients to enable them to move toward and maintain healthy lifestyle change.
Professional health coaches may signpost a client, with permission towards supporting health and wellbeing information and resources from nationally and internationally recognised authorities, such as current government and public health guidelines and peer-reviewed robust, quality sources of evidence-based information. The purpose of the information sharing and manner in which it is shared must be aligned with the intention of facilitating discussion and exploration of new information from which clients can draw their own conclusions, gain confidence and a sense of empowerment.
Professional health coaches may engage in coaching conversations with clients regarding an extremely broad range of health-related topics such as food, sleep, movement, client health conditions and impact of diagnoses, laboratory test results, biometrics and other measurements, relationship, and social support, meaning and purpose and what's important to the client.
A professional health coach working with clients has a responsibility to make their scope/s of practice clear in their terms of agreement and when contracting with clients.

Unless otherwise qualified and covered by an appropriate scope of practice, the following processes are NOT within the scope of practice of the UKIHCA professional health coach:

analysing/assessing client symptoms
diagnosing conditions
interpreting laboratory test results or other medical data
giving specific dietary or nutritional advice to the individual or a group (including removing food groups)
recommending supplements
prescribing meal plans
prescribing or de-prescribing medicines, treatments, or therapeutic interventions (including nutritional therapy, psychotherapy, physical activity programmes etc)
making claims to prevent or cure any condition

UKIHCA professional health coaches must, unless otherwise qualified and able to do so legitimately, avoid giving specific personal health advice.