Implications for Health Coaching in the Treatment of Risky Alcohol Behavior: A Literature Review

Abstract

Purpose: Excessive alcohol use is still a major health problem in the United States and can lead to increased healthcare utilization, such as emergency visits, number of hospital admissions, and length of hospitalizations. Health coaching has been shown to be effective in treating numerous chronic illnesses, but has not been yet been directly used to treat alcohol misuse. However, there were numerous studies that measured the ancillary effects of health coaching on alcohol consumption. We have conducted a literature review to investigate whether there is evidence that supports health coaching as an effective intervention on alcohol consumption. Methods: We used the PubMed and CINAHL databases to search the literature for relevant English-language articles. Inclusion criteria were a randomized-controlled trial study design, reported alcohol use outcomes, study population 18 years or older, intervention delivered by a person, and coaches were trained clinicians of varying degrees. Exclusion criteria were non-English articles, case studies, review articles, and studies where the coach was a medical doctor, untrained volunteer, peer, or recovery coach. Articles were evaluated for their study design, study sample, coaching intervention description, control group, qualifications of health coach, hospital setting, alcohol use measures and outcomes, and intervention duration and follow-up. We then summarize these aspects of each study to evaluate the evidence of this type of intervention in the treatment of alcohol misuse. Results: Seven studies met our criteria for inclusion in our review. The articles were evaluated for aspects of intervention, description of health coaches, and outcomes. Several studies had significant methodological limitations, which are discussed. Conclusions: None of the studies included in this literature review showed any significant differences between the intervention groups that received some form of health coaching and the control groups. Most studies did not directly address alcohol as the target behavior. More research is needed to understand how the coaching intervention can be optimized to assist patients with at-risk drinking.