Whole coaching for employees during the COVID-19 pandemic at one va medical center in new york

Objective: An innovative opportunity for employees to participate in Whole Health (WH) coaching was provided in response to the COVID-19 pandemic at one VA medical center in New York The Whole Health System (WHS) is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being The model creates space for individual exploration of self-care goals providing opportunities to grow skills for goal attainment while working with a WH coach Methods: VA employees were offered an opportunity to participate in four telephone coaching sessions from July- September 2020 Employees completed a brief questionnaire pre- and post-coaching sessions The 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was used to assess changes in stress;the 2-item Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CDRISC2) was used to assess changes in resiliency Paired ttests were used to compare within-person changes pre- and post-coaching The overall benefit of working with a WH coach was assessed on a 10-point scale Qualitative measures of perceived impacts on work and personal life and were also assessed Results: Of employees referred, a majority (80%, n=39) participated with most participants (95%, n=37) completing all four coaching sessions Of these, 85% (n=33) completed a post-coaching questionnaire Employees chose to work on a variety of different self-care goals Overall, average stress reduction on the PSS was 3 2 points (p=0 0216) The average increase in resiliency on the CD-RISC2 was 0 6 points (p=0 0485) The average overall benefit of working with aWH coach was 8 6 (range 4-10) Approximately 94% and 70% of participants felt coaching impacted their personal and work lives, respectively Conclusion: Overall perceived benefits of working with a WH coach was high As VA continues to implement the WHS model for employees, coaching should be included to support employees in self-care and resiliency building efforts