Authors: Bianca Pătac1,2, Ana-Maria Zăgrean1, Anca Botezatu3, Alina Fudulu3, Natalia Cucu4, Ovidiu Popa-Velea5, Leon Zăgrean1
Affiliation
1 Division of Physiology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
2 Idol Production, Bucharest, sector 2, Romania
3 Stefan S. Nicolau Institute of Virology, Molecular Virology Department, Bucharest, sector 3, Romania
4 Epigenetics and Metabolomics Association, Bucharest, sector 1, Romania
5 Discipline of Medical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
Abstract
Background. Stress, a phenomenon which has turned into an epidemic, is a major health concern because it affects the general population, having a strong negative impact on the psychoemotional, physical and social health.
Aims. The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of Health&Wellness Coaching (HWC) intervention on stress levels, as evidenced by physical/mental/psychological changes, and to identify non-invasive ways of early detection of high stress levels, which may play an essential role in the prophylaxis of chronic diseases often associated with stress.
Methods. The HWC intervention was carried out on 24 subjects, and consisted in 8 online sessions for each of them. The sessions were mixed training and coaching sessions, held once every two weeks, and lasted for approximately 60 min/session. In the training sessions, useful medical information related to stress was provided (info training), while in the coaching sessions subjects were guided and empowered to reduce their stress levels.
Results. The results showed an optimization of physical/mental/psychological parameters, with a simultaneous decrease in perceived stress levels, and a favorable impact on the subjects’ quality of life, as evidenced by psychometric measurements (DASS_21R, Decisional Capacity and QOLI) and mental/brain measurements using fNIRS technology (Functional Near- Infrared Spectroscopy, with the Mendi device).
Conclusion. The present research confirms that HWC is an effective intervention in reducing the level of perceived stress and we believe that it can be a promising alternative for the prophylaxis of chronic diseases, and that DASS-21R could be a useful tool for the detection of a high degree of psycho/emotional/mental impairment, which can negatively influence the level of stress in the body, i.e. QOLI can detect the most affected areas of satisfaction with life.
Keywords: stress, depression, anxiety, decisional rationality, quality of life, health & wellness coaching, training, neural activity, resilience.
https://doi.org/10.26659/pm3.2024.25.2.70
