Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention after the Game Ends: The Emerging Role of Certified Health Education Specialists in Wellness Coaching for Retired College Student-Athletes

Former college student-athletes encounter unique health-related challenges following athletic retirement. Many retired student-athletes adopt sedentary lifestyles that can lead to long-term health problems, while others struggle to maintain good mental health due to issues associated with resolving their own athletic identity. Retired student-athletes who are able to successfully transfer their athletic identity into life after college sports are less likely to engage in chronic disease risk behaviors. Unfortunately, there is a relative lack of personal health and wellness programs for this vulnerable subgroup of the college population, which is concerning given the large number and high proportion of retired college student-athletes who are highly susceptible to chronic health issues. It is important that appropriate resources are made available to dissuade retired student-athletes from living unhealthy lifestyles, while at the same time encouraging them to actively pursue wellness following college. Currently, there is a unique opportunity to improve holistic wellness among retired college student-athletes through “coaching” them to live healthy lifestyles after their athletic career is over. Certified Health Education Specialists can play a key role in planning, implementing, and evaluating multi-dimensional wellness coaching programs that address the unmet health promotion needs of retired college student-athletes.A AJHE Self-Study quiz is online for this article via the SHAPE America Online Institute (SAOI) http://portal.shapeamerica.org/trn-Webinars