Healthcare Coaching and Person-Centered Care: A Thematic Analysis of Healthcare Professional Students' Perspectives Following IPE Learning Experience.

Authors

Megan Baumley, Angela Lis, Natalie Neubauer, Lorene Cobb, Genevieve Pinto Zipp

Published in

Journal of allied health. Volume 55. Issue 3. Pages 403-410. Sep 18, 2026. Epub Sep 18, 2026.

Abstract

Person-centered healthcare emphasizes collaborative partnerships involving individual autonomy and shared decision-making. Health coaching has emerged as a pedagogical approach that aligns with person-centered care principles through its emphasis on empowerment, self-determination, and collaborative goal setting.
To explore healthcare professional students' perceptions of their role as health coaches within person-centered care frameworks following completion of an interprofessional education (IPE) module on person-centered care, humanism, and the co-production of health.
A cross-sectional survey study examined responses from 235 healthcare professional students who completed a training module in person-centered care. Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses was conducted using Atlas.AI for initial coding, followed by thematic consolidation by two trained qualitative researchers.
Among respondents, 95% (n=231) identified coaching as one of their roles in person-centered care. Thematic analysis revealed an understanding of coaching across three tiers: foundational (support/motivation; education/empowerment), integration (professional role integration; goal setting/collaboration), and specialized applications (self-management/independence; prevention/wellness; bridging communication gaps).
Results revealed coaching to have relational and educational dimensions embedded within healthcare practice. Healthcare professional students conceptualize coaching through an empowerment-centered paradigm that emphasizes collaborative partnerships, autonomous decision-making, and patient-driven goals. Findings suggest that coaching education cultivates understanding and application of person-centered care principles.

PMID:
42775953
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 23 Sep 2026.

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