Hi Coaches!

I’m excited to bring you our first Deep Dive Issue of the year, which also happens to be our first collaboration! Today’s issue was co-written with Stephanie Patterson, RN, BSN, dipACLM.

Stephanie is a Nurse Coach with over two decades of healthcare experience and a background in Behavioral Neuroscience, Nursing, and Lifestyle Medicine. I’m indebted to her for her expertise and work on this comprehensive article, and I encourage you to reach out and connect with her if you’re interested in expanding your network. You can find her at her website and LinkedIn profile.

Diabetes Prevention and Management is a rapidly evolving specialization in the field of health coaching. Our aim with this article is to offer an introductory overview of the current landscape of diabetes coaching, a potential starting point for anyone who may be interested in pursuing this specialization, as well as areas for further professional development. As always, I also welcome your input to further expand our understanding of the field on this topic and others.

Thanks for reading,

Leslie

Coaching for Diabetes Prevention & Management

Why Your Role is Essential

Health coaching plays a vital role in the prevention and management of diabetes, bridging the gap between medical care and sustainable lifestyle changes. Coaches from a wide range of backgrounds can help support clients in navigating the complexities of diabetes. For coaches without a clinical background, it might feel like you’re stepping into more clinical territory which might feel a little unsettling. It’s natural to wonder, “Am I really qualified for this?” The short answer is yes; you absolutely are! Whether or not you have a healthcare background, coaches play an invaluable role in providing meaningful support for clients with diabetes.

Today we’ll take some time to explore how coaches with both clinical and non-clinical backgrounds play a role in diabetes prevention and management. We’ll also highlight resources to help you deepen your knowledge and confidence in this coaching specialization.

The Role of a Health Coach in Diabetes Prevention & Management

Adding a health coach to a client’s care team can significantly improve outcomes. While diabetes management requires medical oversight, your role as a health coach is to complement that care. Here’s where your strengths come into play:

• Behavior Change Expertise: Health coaches excel in guiding clients through lifestyle changes—diet, exercise, stress management, and habit formation. These are often the very areas where clients struggle long after they leave their doctor’s office.

• Motivation and Accountability: Managing diabetes is a long-term journey. Clients often need someone to check in with them, offer encouragement, and hold them accountable to their goals. This ongoing support is where health coaches make a lasting impact.

• Building Trust and Connection: Many clients feel overwhelmed by the challenges of diabetes. As their coach, your role is to listen, empathize, and create a safe space where they can work through those challenges at their own pace.

In today’s industry, health coaching for diabetes care takes place in various contexts. Coaches may work for companies or clinics—either digitally or on-site—that offer diabetes management programs alongside other chronic condition support. Some companies and roles focus entirely on diabetes management. Additionally, coaches may work as Lifestyle Coaches in diabetes prevention programs approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Diabetes Prevention Program initiative.

The Landscape of Diabetes Care and Coaching: A Brief Overview

In diabetes coaching, understanding the differences between prevention and management is important, as each requires a unique approach in both education and practice. Here’s how these areas diverge and what that means for your path as you develop as a coach in supporting diabetes care.

Prevention

Diabetes prevention focuses on helping individuals at risk of developing type 2 diabetes make lifestyle changes to reduce that risk. Coaches working in this area typically support clients in creating healthier habits around diet, exercise, and weight management. For prevention-focused coaching, programs prioritize evidence-based interventions proven to lower diabetes risk. Coaching often includes general education on evidence-based factors such as maintaining a healthy body weight, eating balanced meals, and incorporating regular physical activity.

Management

In contrast to prevention, diabetes management targets individuals who already have a diabetes diagnosis, helping them manage their condition through lifestyle and behavior modifications. Strategies emphasize stabilizing blood glucose, improving diet, and supporting medical treatment adherence while adapting to ongoing challenges and helping individuals to live daily life with diabetes by addressing misconceptions, improving knowledge, and encouraging awareness. The goal here is not just to reduce the risk of complications but also to support the client in leading a healthy, fulfilling life. The coach’s role may extend beyond general education and health advice towards collaborating directly with a client’s healthcare provider to support them in following medical guidelines and effectively managing medication.

Shared Approaches

In both diabetes prevention and management, a coach’s role is to partner with each client to develop individualized plans that recognize each person’s unique experiences in health. Emotional support and empathy are essential, and the coach may provide strategies to cope with the psychological and emotional aspects of the client’s health journey in either case. The therapeutic alliance in the coach-client relationship is foundational, emphasizing a reliable, holistic, nonjudgmental, and encouraging approach.

Learning Opportunities for Diabetes Coaching

Whether you’re looking to specialize or just want to learn more about diabetes coaching, there are some options available to help you build expertise in diabetes prevention and management as a knowledge foundation for your coaching.

National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP)

These are specialized programs aimed at diabetes prevention, emphasizing lifestyle interventions to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. They are CDC-recognized and follow a specific curriculum designed for this purpose. These programs must go through rigorous approval and reporting requirements to the CDC over time to maintain their active status. To coach for an NDPP program, you must be trained as an NDPP Lifestyle Coach. This is a separate credential from the NBHWC credential, administered by an entirely different credentialing body—the CDC. However, there is some overlap, as two NDPP training programs are also approved by the NBHWC for Continuing Education credits.

• State of Wellness & Pivot X are NDPP Lifestyle Coach Training programs that are also approved by the NBHWC for CEs.

• If you’re not concerned about CEs, the CDC has a list of training entities for NDPP lifestyle coaches on their website.

American College of Lifestyle Medicine

The American College of Lifestyle Medicine has several training options to support your understanding of diabetes prevention and management. Some of these are also eligible for NBHWC CEs.

• The Remission of Type 2 Diabetes and Reversal of Insulin Resistance with Lifestyle Medicine: Offered by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), this diabetes management course helps coaches understand how lifestyle medicine techniques can reverse insulin resistance and support remission in type 2 diabetes. (NBHWC CEs available)

• Food as medicine for type 2 diabetes remission : Also offered by the ACLM, this management focused course offers a comprehensive exploration of food as medicine in type 2 diabetes treatment and remission. (NBHWC CEs available)

• Other ACLM courses may also be helpful in developing a foundation in Lifestyle Medicine for type 2 diabetes prevention purposes. (NBHWC CEs may be available)

American Diabetes Association

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) website is a valuable resource for coaches seeking to enhance their knowledge of diabetes care and to share resources with clients. It offers evidence-based guidelines, educational materials on nutrition, exercise, and medication management, and updates on the latest research, helping coaches stay informed on emerging trends in diabetes care.

• American Diabetes Association

• ADA Tools for Professionals

Note that some of these courses and resources my discuss diagnosis, prescription, and treatment which is outside of the scope of a health coach without clinical expertise and licensure. However, they can offer a good foundation of knowledge for coaches who wish to specialize in this area and collaborate with clinical professionals.

Clinical Vs. Non-Clinical Coaching For Diabetes

Imposter Syndrome: Navigating Your Confidence

Many coaches find themselves questioning their ability to support clients with chronic conditions like diabetes, especially without a clinical background. Remember, your value lies not in providing medical treatment but in guiding clients through the essential lifestyle changes that make a lasting difference. You’re an expert in behavior change, accountability, and lifestyle improvements—all key elements in diabetes management that help clients build sustainable habits. Embrace your role with confidence, knowing that you’re equipped to make a meaningful impact.

What You Can Do: Clinical vs. Non-Clinical Background

There is a valuable role for both clinical and non-clinical coaches in diabetes support, and understanding the differences between them can help guide clients effectively. Clinical coaches, such as registered dietitians (RDs) or registered nurses (RNs), are clinicians first, using coaching skills to support their clinical work, while non-clinical coaches focus solely on general health education and helping clients integrate recommended changes to support health and disease management. It’s important to note that laws vary by state, particularly for nutrition counseling, so coaches should be aware of these regulations, especially when providing virtual care.

If You Have a Clinical Background:

• Lab Interpretation and Medical Oversight: You’re permitted to interpret lab results, and depending on your background, you might be able to provide medical advice and adjust treatment plans as needed within your legal scope of practice. If you are a nurse, this must be done under the oversight of a clinician with prescriptive and diagnostic abilities. This makes you well-suited to work with clients with more complex needs or who require closer clinical monitoring.

• Advanced Health Assessments: Your clinical expertise allows you to conduct in-depth health assessments and evaluate a client’s overall health status, potentially uncovering issues that may require further medical investigation.

• Medical Nutrition Therapy: If licensed to do so, you can provide medical nutrition advice, adjusting dietary recommendations based on lab results and clinical guidelines

• Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Your clinical background enables you to more effectively collaborate with other healthcare providers on the client’s care team, discussing specific medical concerns or treatment adjustments.

If You Have a Non-Clinical Background:

• Behavior Change and Habit Formation: As a non-clinical coach, your focus is on guiding clients to adopt sustainable lifestyle changes through goal setting, habit building, and motivational support—critical areas for managing diabetes over the long term.

• Accountability and Support: You provide regular check-ins, encouragement, and accountability that help clients stay engaged with their health goals between medical appointments.

• Education and Simplification: While you don’t interpret labs, you can simplify and discuss general concepts from the doctor’s report, empowering clients to understand and engage with their health information in a manageable way.

• Resourceful Guidance: Non-clinical coaches can partner with clinical professionals and offer clients tailored lifestyle advice based on medical recommendations without stepping beyond your scope.

Shared Responsibilities (Both Clinical and Non-Clinical Coaches):

• Emotional and Psychological Support: Diabetes management can be overwhelming. Both clinical and non-clinical coaches play an essential role in supporting clients emotionally, helping them reframe challenges and stay motivated.

• Building Self-Efficacy and Confidence: Both backgrounds can foster self-confidence by helping clients set realistic, achievable goals and reinforcing their ability to take charge of their health.

• Lifestyle and Nutritional Education (General): While non-clinical coaches don’t provide medical nutrition therapy, both backgrounds can guide clients in making healthier food choices, increasing physical activity, managing stress, and improving sleep based on general lifestyle principles and established recommendations. Note - in some states it is not legal for you to provide meal plans as this is considered medical nutrition therapy - know your scope for your state!

Additional Credentials and Skills: A Look at Job Listings

In this section, we take a brief look at other common credentials, skills, and knowledge often mentioned in job listings for diabetes coaching. While not all roles in this specialization require these qualifications, they are often preferred or required—particularly in diabetes management—and can give you a competitive edge when pursuing work in this area.

• Certified Diabetes Care Education Specialist (CDCES): This credential is for healthcare professional who have extensive knowledge and experience in prediabetes, diabetes prevention and management. It is administered and maintained by the Certification Board for Diabetes Care and Education Specialists. and to be eligible you must have earned one of the qualifying disciplines. This list of qualified disciplines does not include health coaches, but if you have related higher education and experience, there is a unique qualifications pathway with specific criteria you must meet.

• The ability to interpret and incorporate the ADCES 7 Self-Care behaviors education model into practice. This is a proven framework for self-management of diabetes and other related conditions.

• The DPP Lifestyle Coach Credential is commonly mentioned. Taking an NDPP Lifestyle Coach Training program does not have pre-requisites and may be a good starting point for coaches who lack higher health education and clinical licensure.

• Staying up to date on clinical best practices for diabetes management. The American Diabetes Association linked above is a great resource for this.

• Bachelor’s degree, often in a health/wellness related field.

• Knowledge of government healthcare programs (e.g. Medicare)

• Experience with the target coaching population (even if not through coaching). If you’re interested in specializing in Diabetes coaching and don’t have experience with this population, doing some volunteering with a nonprofit like the ADA could be a good starting point.

Career Path: Building Your Diabetes Coaching Expertise

If you’re looking to carve a path in diabetes coaching and are just starting out with a non-clinical background, these steps can help you build your expertise and grow your career. It’s worth noting that there’s currently no single, defined route to specializing in this area—many successful coaches have had to find their own way without a formal roadmap. Our aim is to provide a guiding framework, but understand there’s still room for flexibility and variability in how you approach this specialization. Use these steps as a foundation, adapting them to suit your unique strengths and circumstances:

• Start with General Health Coaching: Establish a solid foundation by working with clients on broad wellness goals, helping you build essential coaching skills and gain confidence.

• Gain further education in diabetes prevention and management: Seek out specific training courses in diabetes or chronic disease management to deepen your knowledge and develop a more focused expertise.

• Collaborate with Clinical Experts: Partnering with nurse coaches, medical professionals, or other specialists to expand your consultation and referral network.

• Position Yourself as a Resource: Leverage your connections with clinical experts to offer well-rounded care for your clients, demonstrating that you know when to bring in additional support for their benefit.

• Pursue Higher Education: If this feels appropriate for you, higher education can potentially expand your scope as a coach, and expand your reach in the job market.

Opportunities for Collaboration

Collaborating with clinical professionals opens up new avenues for growth and enhances client outcomes. However, stepping into these partnerships often requires entrepreneurial thinking—being proactive, creative, and willing to think outside the box. Even if you do not intend to own your own practice, approaching collaborations with an entrepreneurial mindset can help you stand out, build connections, and grow your expertise- ultimately improving your competitiveness in the job market. Here are some ways to build these connections creatively:

• Co-Host Webinars: Reach out to medical professionals or regional health organizations to co-host webinars, providing clients with a well-rounded view of diabetes management. Not only does this build your reputation, but it also positions you as a resource for clients and potential employers alike.

• Blog Interviews: If you have a blog or social media presence, feature interviews with clinical experts. This gives your audience valuable insights and showcases your commitment to staying informed on the latest in diabetes care.

• Client Referrals and Networks: Build a referral network by forming relationships with clinical professionals. When clients need additional support outside your scope, referring them to trusted clinicians demonstrates your responsibility and care. At the same time, clinicians can refer clients back to you for lifestyle and behavior change support.

• Think Beyond Traditional Roles: Consider creative opportunities to showcase your expertise in non-traditional settings. For example, connecting with local organizations or disease-specific associations, such as the American Diabetes Association, may open doors to participate in community events or provide opportunities for speaking engagements. This proactive approach helps you gain visibility while contributing to important causes.

Approaching these opportunities with flexibility and innovation can make a difference, setting you apart and fostering valuable connections in your field. Collaboration, especially in the health coaching space, often requires initiative, but it can ultimately lead to greater success for both you and your clients.

Closing Thoughts: Building a Career in Diabetes Coaching

There’s a common misconception that coaching for diabetes prevention and management requires advanced health education or clinical licensure. While some roles do require this experience, others are open to coaches with diverse backgrounds. Coaches without formal health education might start as DPP Lifestyle Coaches and build expertise from there. Those with advanced education or clinical experience could pursue the CDCES credential. This area of coaching offers opportunities in community health programs, private practice, medical clinics, digital health, and corporate wellness. Success relies on building strong relationships, intentionally developing skills and knowledge specific to the specialization and target population, and staying updated on evidence-based practices. With dedication and an entrepreneurial spirit, health coaches can make a meaningful impact regardless of their starting point.

About

The Health Coaching Jobs Newsletter is a one woman operation fueled by a passion for supporting coaches and the growth of the health and wellness coaching industry.

As the newsletter grows, I would love to hear from you! Send an email to [email protected] - share how your job search is going, how your coaching is going, and what you’d like to see in future newsletters!

^{DISCLAIMER: This information is being provided to you for educational and informational purposes only. It is being shared to provide general information and as a self-help tool for your own use. It is not to be substituted for the advice of licensed professionals of any kind. This information is to be used at your own risk based on your own judgment.}