What Research Says About Online Coaching
Online coaching delivers programming, check-ins and feedback remotely — through apps, video calls and messaging — instead of in-person sessions.
What published research reports
An umbrella review and meta-meta-analysis in npj Digital Medicine (2024), pooling systematic reviews of eHealth and mHealth interventions, reported small-to-moderate improvements in physical activity and related lifestyle behaviours from digitally delivered programmes compared with controls. A 2024 umbrella review focused on older adults reported similar directional findings. The published literature notes two consistent caveats: effects tend to fade when the programme's human contact and accountability end, and trials mostly test structured programmes rather than individual coaches — so the evidence supports the delivery format's viability, not any particular provider.
References
.png)
