The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for mental health services in the UK creating due to a backlog in services provided and a deterioration in the general population’s mental health (NHS England, 2022a). Mental health counselling is based on a clinical model and looks to alleviate stress and restore functioning often requiring es long-term treatment. In comparison, lifestyle coaching uses a short to medium-term goal-focused approach, with emphasis on developing skills, improving self-efficacy and increasing personal fulfilment.
A rapid review approach methodology was used to determine the evidence of knowledge base of mental health and health economics evaluations in the field of mental health services.
No literature was found to determine the cost-effectiveness , or effectiveness or efficacy of lifestyle coaching. Due to a lack of economic evaluations, this review could not determine the potential cost-effectiveness of lifestyle coaching as a means of addressing the backlog for mental health support such as counselling in the NHS . We did find evidence that However, talking therapies such as CBT are cost-effective treatments for some mental health disorders.
This review highlights the research gap in assessing the cost-effectiveness of lifestyle coaching for treating common mental health disorders. The proposed next step is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of lifestyle coaching versus current treatment as usual (counselling) by using a feasibility randomised control trial.