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Are you a diabetes consultant, counselor or coach?
Patients with diabetes need to visit health care providers that fulfill each of these roles.
In the course of treating their disease, people with diabetes will see a host of health care professionals in various settings. Are the health care professionals who are treating them interacting as consultants, counselors or coaches? Can one health care provider fulfill all roles? Look at these roles individually, and then decide for yourself.
A consultant is an expert in the field who helps people determine the problem (diagnosis) and tells them how to fix it (“Lose weight, take your medications, etc.”). The consultant is the expert in the relationship who provides information, and the patient is expected to do what is recommended.
Mary Austin
A counselor helps a patient identify and address the obstacles that get in the way of doing what is in their best interest (not exercising, not taking medications as prescribed, etc.). A counselor helps a patient answer the “why” questions.
A coach asks the patient the “what” questions. They realize that patients are often initially more motivated by their fears than their wishes. But, over time, fears disappear and so does motivation. Coaching is not consulting or counseling. A skilled coach asks the patient, “What do you want? How can I help you reach your goal?”
Given that diabetes is a chronic disease where the patient as well as the disease changes over time, the patient with diabetes needs the consultant, the counselor and the coach to help him or her self-manage their disease.
Which role are you playing?
As health care providers, we need to understand which role we play when interacting with patients. Often we fulfill more than one role, but there is nothing wrong with exclusively being only a consultant, counselor or coach as long as you acknowledge the role you play.
Patients are often labeled as “noncompliant or nonadherent.” Perhaps the patient has only seen a consultant and would benefit from ongoing sessions with a counselor and/or coach.
For the patient’s sake, we need to determine which role we play and provide the patient with a team approach. If you are faced with a patient who is not doing what has been recommended to improve his or her health status, explore the resources available to you and refer the patient to a counselor or coach. The counseling or coaching could be provided by a diabetes educator, psychologist, community support person, a peer, or a trusted family member.