Coaching a Wellbeing Leadership Culture: Bringing a Pediatrician Wellbeing Program Into Practice

The investigators hypothesize that a wellbeing intervention that incorporates an innovative health coaching model to cultivate individual behavior change supportive of one's own and others' wellbeing can be implemented using existing institutional infrastructure and will lead to improvements in self-reported wellbeing.

This is a nonrandomized pilot study of a convenience sample. Participants will be assigned to 1 of 2 coaches, based upon availability of schedules. Participants who perform research will be assigned to the remote coach whenever possible to avoid potential concerns with the internal coach's dual role as Administrative Director of the Children's Research Institute.

The sample size for this pilot study (up to 30) was selected for feasibility and not power. This study is funded for 1-year and study participation is for 6-months. The study will be conducted at a single site; the University of North Carolina Department of Pediatrics Chapel Hill. Assistant, Associate and Full Professors, tenure-track or fixed-term, on the UNC main campus are eligible.

The Pediatric Wellbeing Program consists of coaching sessions from a certified National Board for Health and Wellness Coach (NBHWC) through the National Board of Medical Examiners. The NBHWC pioneered science-based training, education, and research of health and wellness coaches over the past 15 years. NBHWC became an accredited institution through National Board of Medical Examiners in 2016, providing certification through examination. By using NBHWC-certified coaches, the investigators are adhering to a standard and measured foundational competencies: the knowledge, tasks and skills essential to the practice of health and wellness coaching. Coaches will assist participants in constructing their Wellbeing-Individual Development Plan (Wellbeing-IDP). The Wellbeing-IDP is designed to assist with identifying the participant's vision, goals, and plan for wellbeing; assess current wellbeing with the WHO-5 to identify areas where they have high wellbeing and areas they need to develop; secure support and accountability (e.g., UNC resources, familial, peer, social, professional); and create a timeline for what they want to accomplish when.

As needed, faculty will also receive up to 5 additional coaching sessions from a certified health coach via video conferencing. All coaching sessions will use principles for health coaching, including brief motivational interviewing, self-empowerment and determination, transtheoretical model of stages of change, mindset, sense making, and making SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely).