Personalised support every step of the way

Upon completing an AXA Health Know Your Numbers health assessment or Wellbeing Consultation, an employee can be referred to a personal coach if they could benefit from some extra support. 

During up to six one-to-one phone sessions with a trained specialist, employees receive guidance to help them maintain or improve their health and wellbeing.

Health coaching

Working with their dedicated coach, employees explore the areas of their health that need improvement. Health coaching is designed to motivate people to manage their wellbeing and adopt healthy habits into their day-to-day lives.


Mental wellbeing coaching

This service provides one-to-one support for those who want to reach their full potential, and would benefit from mental wellbeing support, yet aren't needing full clinical mental health treatment.

And they’re good for business

Mental wellbeing coaching

 

It could boost your performance

Productivity and good mind health go hand-in-hand. To maximise productivity, you need your employees to flourish1 and a work environment that helps keep them ‘in-flow’.2

Our 2023 Mind Health At Work Report found that respondents are three times more likely to flourish and be ‘in-flow’ when they’re offered good mental health support at work.3

 

It could help retain your talent

Our Mind Health At Work Report also found a clear link between flourishing mind health and employee retention. In fact, only 5% of those ‘in-flow’ said theyintended to leave their jobs in the next 12 months.3

 

It could help reduce absences

35.2 million working days were lost to work-related ill health in 2022/23, with stress, anxiety and depression accounting for almost 17.1million of these.4

Mental wellbeing coaching could help your employees identify and address psychological challenges early, which in turn can reduce the impact on their mental and emotional wellbeing. Reduced stress, anxiety and/or depression can help prevent the type of mental health issues that may lead to employees needing time off work.

1 Flourishing is the pinnacle of good mind health and shows good social, psychological and emotional wellbeing. These findings are drawn from the Mind Health At Work Report (2023). For more information, see the AXA Study of Mind Health and Wellbeing in 2023

2 In-flow is a highly productive mental state where an individual is fully focussed on their work. These findings are drawn from the Mind Health At Work Report  2023 (For more information, see the AXA Study of Mind Health and Wellbeing in 2023.

3 AXA Health – Mind Health At Work Report (2023)

4 HSE – Health and safety at work – Summary statistics for Great Britain 2023 


Health coaching

 

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It can help reduce absences

An estimated 185.6 million working days were lost because of sickness or injury in 2022, with minor illnesses accounting for 29.3% of these.5 Lifestyle factors play a significant part in maintaining the immune system and keeping people healthy, but our research6 has found:

  • 84% of people in the UK don’t eat five portions of fruit and veg a day.
  • 72% of working women aged 18-24 don't regularly get over 150 mins of moderate exercise a week.
  • 72% of people in the UK don't often wake up feeling rested.

Health coaching is a preventative, proactive approach to health that tackles these kinds of lifestyle challenges to help reduce the minor illnesses that can lead to absences. It does this by motivating people to manage their health and adopt healthy habits in their day-to-day lives.  

 

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It’s forward-thinking

Based on Henley Business School’s critical review of the evidence for coaching in the healthcare system,7 health coaching can help health professionals improve patient outcomes. The review calls for health stakeholders to take forward health coaching as part of both employee wellbeing, and patient care.

5 Office for National Statistics – Sickness absence in the UK labour market

6 AXA Health survey data 2023

7 University of Reading - Henley Business School – Does Health Coaching Work? 2020 (pdf)

Ready to know more?

Looking to support key individuals in your organisation with our dedicated coaching services? For more information about creating a truly tailored health improvement programme for your business, contact us today.

Mental wellbeing coaching FAQs

Mental wellbeing coaching is a preventative, proactive form of mental health support. It offers employees up to 6, one-to-one telephone sessions with a qualified coach to help them clarify what matters most and improve their mental wellbeing. It’s a collaborative, action-oriented approach to coaching, which helps your people recognise their strengths, qualities and values. It’s a convenient and confidential service that ultimately provides people with the tools, motivation and confidence to help them plan ahead and take the next steps on their wellbeing journey.

Mental wellbeing coaching is an accompaniment to your health assessment programme. It’s designed for employees who may need some extra mental health support or who have had a potential mental health risk identified, but not for anyone involved with another psychological support service or who is receiving treatment for a specific mental health challenge. It’s only available when recommended by a health professional following a Wellbeing Consultation.

Mental wellbeing coaching is designed for those who are generally healthy but want to learn, develop, and grow — both personally and professionally. 

They may have an idea of what could be better, have a definite goal or desired direction in mind, or they may be willing to experiment and explore what else is possible. One-to-one coaching enables self-discovery, so people become more aware of their skills, resources and strengths. It’s designed to help them develop and successfully pursue their goals.

The first step is for an employee to understand what tools and support will be most useful to them. And that’s different for everyone. Mental wellbeing coaching can help with performance, resilience, confidence, self-belief, stress management, overcoming obstacles, improving communication, problem-solving or to help people shift their priorities and perspectives. 

These are just a few examples. Our health coaches will guide the employee through an initial assessment during which they’ll map out a plan and discuss which areas to focus on and what goals they want to set. 

No two journeys through mental wellbeing coaching are the same, but they always start with an initial telephone assessment. This first conversation is designed to confirm an employee’s suitability for mental wellbeing coaching, define which areas they need to focus on, discuss priorities and set goals. 

This is followed by up to five 45-minute telephone sessions at mutually agreed intervals (typically every two weeks) over a period of approximately 12 weeks. During these sessions, employees can discuss their progress, review or adjust their focus, talk through any barriers they’ve encountered and receive the one-to-one support and expertise that’ll help them continue their mental health journey. 

Every mental wellbeing coach has qualifications and years of experience in both therapeutic fields and coaching practice. They are also members of recognised professional bodies. Everyone is supervised and completes continuous professional development on a regular basis. 

As with any programme, there are no guarantees, and the journey and results are different for everyone. But based on feedback from those who have completed their mental wellbeing coaching journey, it can help people develop, grow, increase their self-awareness and push themselves out of their comfort zone. It also gives them the tools, strategies and insight to maintain their mental health and feel more positive on a day-to-day basis. 

If an employee requests a coach of a particular gender, we’ll do our best to accommodate this. However, there’s no guarantee that we’d have specific availability at any given time, so they may need to wait until a suitable coach becomes available. 

After the initial assessment, employees typically have appointments with their coach every two weeks over a period of 12 weeks. 

Yes, if for any reason the employee wants to stop the coaching, they can relay this to their coach and discuss the next steps regarding what might be useful going forward, e.g. further support or self-management.

Typically, they’ll be able to have the first conversation with a coach within two calendar weeks of their Wellbeing Consultation.

To help us evidence improvements in an employee’s mental wellbeing, we use validated measures at the start and end of coaching to help us review progress. 

All data from mental wellbeing coaching is confidential, in line with AXA Health standards for information handling. That means all content from coaching sessions and any notes are handled confidentially and stored securely. Any data acquired from our routine outcome measures is anonymised. 

Each coach has a duty of care for an employee’s personal safety and the safety of others. This means they may need to discuss details with other professionals if there’s ever a concern that someone poses a risk to themselves or others, or if there are safeguarding concerns about other people’s actions.

No. All communications between the employee and their coach are completed over the telephone, with bespoke guidance to help set achievable goals through the 12 weeks. Emails are used to arrange appointments.

Appointments aim to be every two weeks but this may vary. This enables employees to reflect and put into practice what has been discussed in the previous session. 

Mental wellbeing coaching is only available on the recommendation of a health professional based on the results of a Wellbeing Consultation or, for some clients who have the app, after a mental wellbeing assessment via the AXA Health app. Employees cannot self-refer or request coaching.

Regular attendance is essential to the success of mental wellbeing coaching. It’s a busy service and cancellations have a detrimental impact on other members and the wider service. For us to ensure the service can support as many people as possible, with the shortest possible waiting time, employees are required to adhere to the following service policy on attendance:  

  • They are expected to attend all their sessions; preparing themselves and the space they are in to make every success of coaching.
  • If they cancel an appointment within two working days, it is highly likely that their coach will have to count this cancelled session as part of their coaching allocation.
  • They must provide as much notice as possible (more than two working days) if they wish to rearrange an appointment.
  • If they cancel more than two appointments during their allocated sessions, even if they give more than two working days’ notice, it is highly likely that their coach will have to close their case as rescheduling appointments has a tangible impact on the efficacy of coaching and wider service challenges.
  • If they do not attend an appointment without giving prior notice, it is highly likely that their coach will have to count this missed session as part of their coaching allocation.
  • If they do not attend two appointments, without giving prior notice, during their allocated sessions, it is highly likely that their coach will have to close their case as rescheduling appointments has a tangible impact on the efficacy of coaching and wider service challenges. 

Our mental wellbeing coaching is available for your organisation to buy on behalf of its employees. There is no additional cost to the employee.

No. Mental wellbeing coaching can only be accessed following completion of a Wellbeing Consultation. 

Health coaching FAQ’s

If an employee has an area of their health or lifestyle they’d like to improve, health coaching can support them. This can include improving diet, being more active, support with key health markers such as cholesterol or blood glucose, losing weight and managing stress. 

Health coaching uses techniques such as motivational interviewing, which is proven to help people work through barriers and build sustainable habits. It involves one-to-one support from a dedicated health coach over a 12-week period. Communication is facilitated via the My Coach app (from Liva Healthcare) to provide bespoke guidance that helps employees set achievable goals.

Health coaching can support people with a variety of conditions and health risks. Currently, for those who complete health coaching, we see an average of 3.5kg in weight loss for those with that goal, significant increase in activity levels and a 45% increase in fruit and vegetable intake.  

We are proud of the results and feedback we get from this service. A common theme from participants is that health coaching made them accountable and kept them motivated to stick to goals. So, as well as seeing results during the programme, coaching also helped participants build the confidence to sustain their new habits and maintain a healthier lifestyle over the longer term.

All our health coaches have core qualifications (minimum degree level) in a relevant area. This will include nutrition, exercises science and health improvement. They also go through extensive training on topics such motivation interviewing, goal setting, behaviour change techniques and solution-focussed coaching. 

Health coaching is only accessible to employees who are recommended to the service following a Know Your Numbers assessment or a Wellbeing consultation. These assessments inform us of an employee’s current health status and help them understand and identify areas they may wish to focus on.  

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