ABSTRACT Background Health coaching has emerged as a promising intervention to improve health outcomes in older adults. However, its effectiveness has not been comprehensively synthesized. Aim To evaluate the effectiveness of health coaching interventions on anxiety, depression, quality of life, self‐management behavior, and self‐efficacy among older adults. Methods A systematic search of six English databases (PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, APA PsycInfo, and ProQuest Dissertations 95% CI: −0.15, −0.04; I 2 : 0%), quality of life (SMD: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.39; I 2 : 76%), self‐management behaviors (SMD: 1.15; 95% CI: 0.45, 1.86; I 2 : 95%), and self‐efficacy (SMD: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.33; I 2 : 69%) among older adults, but had no significant effects on depression (SMD: −0.26; 95% CI: −0.64, 0.12; I 2 : 98%). Linking Evidence to Action Health coaching interventions may enhance the well‐being of older adults. However, the certainty of the current evidence was generally very low to moderate, and substantial heterogeneity existed across studies. Therefore, these findings should be interpreted with caution. More high‐quality RCTs with extended follow‐up, as well as analyses of differential effects across demographic information, are needed to provide more robust and generalizable evidence.
Yang et al. (Sun,) studied this question.