Applied Coaching Research Journal Research Journal Volume 3 | Page 40

Coaching in the UK:
APPLIED COACHING RESEARCH JOURNAL 2019, Vol. 3
A Spotlight on Mental and Physical Health
In 2017, UK Coaching commissioned the largest-ever survey into coaches and coaching. Over 20,000 adults were
surveyed about their experience of receiving coaching and their experience of being a coach. The survey revealed
a positive association between coaching or receiving coaching, and physical and mental health.
Coaching
People who are actively coaching 1 were more likely to report excellent or good physical and mental
health than those who are not actively coaching and those who have never coached.
53%
Active
coaches
40%
43%
45%
Inactive
coaches
Excellent/Good
Mental Health
Never
32%
Excellent/Good
Physical Health
24%
Figure 1: Proportion of coaches or those who have never coached who report excellent or good physical or mental health
Time Spent Coaching
Mean number of hours spent coaching per week
Those who rated their physical or mental health as
excellent or good spend, on average, 4.5 hours and
3.5 hours longer coaching per week than those who
rated their physical or mental health as poor.
Figure 2: Mean number of hours spent coaching per week
according to physical and mental health ratings
Excellent 21.7 21.7
Neutral 10.5 14.8
Poor 18 17
Mental
Health Physical
Health
Paid vs Volunteer Coaches
A greater proportion of volunteer coaches rated their mental health
as excellent or good compared to paid coaches or coaches who are
both paid and volunteer.
Volunteer
Volunteer
58%
Paid
51%
Volunteer and Paid
47%
Figure 3: Proportion of coaches who report their mental health as excellent or good
Those who coached within the previous 12 months of the survey.
1
www.ukcoaching.org
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To access the full reports on this survey, please click here