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

BACKGROUND: 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. OBJECTIVE: 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. METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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). CONCLUSIONS: 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.