Health Coach

Overview

Health Coach — Part Time, 40% FTE Hybrid role. Division of General Internal Medicine (DGIM), UCSF. 1-year contract with 40% FTE hybrid arrangement.

Job Summary:

Health Coaches will play an integral role in providing ongoing support for chronic pain patients enrolled in the INSPIRE study. INSPIRE (Integrating Non-pharmacological Strategies for Pain with Inclusion, Respect, and Equity) is an NIH-funded digital health study that delivers a chronic pain intervention for the Black, Chinese, and Latinx communities. The main goal of INSPIRE is to help patients with chronic pain learn about non-pharmacologic options for pain control, meaning ways to control pain without pills.

The intervention pairs a smartphone app with a weekly telehealth pain management coach. Coaches motivate and engage patients to set and achieve pain management goals through weekly telehealth sessions, primarily over Zoom. Coaches are paired with patients to navigate and complete 12 weekly online health modules focused on pain management, while tracking and reporting participant progress to researchers. Online modules include mindfulness-based meditation, light physical therapy or movement as medicine, and cognitive-behavioral therapy, guiding patients to consider how thoughts affect their experience of pain.

Coaches will also help recruit and onboard participants from their designated community for the two-year study. Training includes 4–6 weeks of in-depth clinical intervention and app instruction, followed by ongoing quality assurance booster sessions. Coaches are supervised by clinical faculty who are co-investigators for the INSPIRE project.

The final salary and offer components are subject to additional approvals based on UC policy. Placement within the salary range depends on work experience and internal equity within this position classification ary range: $52,800 – $112,000 (Annual Rate).

• Build a relationship with the patient, maximize cultural sensitivity and connection, reinforce engagement with INSPIRE modules, and become familiar with INSPIRE tools; respond to questions about the tools.
• Understand clinical measures and electronic dashboards used in the INSPIRE study; assist with basic technical/smartphone/Zoom difficulties.
• Answer basic questions about pain and social resources; recruit and onboard participants from designated communities.
• Facilitate weekly telehealth sessions (primarily Zoom) and support patients in navigating and completing 12 online health modules focused on pain management.
• Monitor and report participant progress to researchers; support the delivery of modules that include mindfulness-based meditation, movement as medicine, and cognitive-behavioral therapy approaches.
• Maintain ongoing quality assurance through training and supervision by clinical faculty.
• Contribute to a supportive, culturally competent environment for participants.

• Required Qualifications
• Bachelor's degree in a related area and/or equivalent experience/training.
• Basic knowledge of the health promotion and education field.
• Skills associated with the delivery of health promotion and education programs.
• Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
• Effective interpersonal skills needed to work with a diverse client group.

• Preferred Qualifications
• Experience and advocacy working with the Black/African American community.
• Basic technological skills (e.g., Zoom, smartphone applications, health dashboards).
• Familiarity with health coaching, patient navigators and patient/family-centered healthcare.
• Coaching and motivational interviewing skills.
• Basic knowledge of health conditions related to chronic pain.
• Familiarity with SMART goal-setting.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple patients simultaneously.
• Experience with mindfulness meditation.
• Experience with cognitive-behavioral therapy.
• Experience with exercise, yoga, Tai Chi, or other movement programs.

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level…