(ARA) – Seeking wellness and staying healthy are two things that most people strive to achieve throughout their lives. But many find it a challenge simply because they have so much going on at any given time.

Now, thanks to a new concept called “health coaching,” people are finding additional help with setting realistic goals, and staying on track.

Health coaching. It’s an increasingly popular method of guiding people to discover and address their unique health and wellness needs. And it can help increase their capacity to achieve short- and long-term goals. Based on the “whole person” approach, health coaching helps people identify the motivation they need to get excited about working toward their objectives, and provides encouragement to address obstacles along the way.

Through a new interactive, virtual health-coaching tool called “HealthCoach4Me,” online health coaching is now available at no cost to consumers at www.HealthCoach4Me.com. Developed by GlaxoSmithKline, this program offers tools to help people set, track and reach their personal health and wellness goals.

The website provides health and wellness coaching in areas including nutrition, exercise, weight management, stress management and smoking cessation. It also provides comprehensive information and coaching around major medical conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, breast cancer, diabetes, heart disease and migraine headache.

“HealthCoach4me is an innovative website that combines the latest science in behavior change with cutting edge technology in a creative way,” says Dr. Ruth Q. Wolever, director of Behavioral Health and Lifestyle Coaching, Duke Diet and Fitness Center; and director of Health Psychology, Duke University Integrative Medicine. Dr. Wolever also served as a development consultant on the site. “It helps people focus on small steps to achieve their personal goals, motivating them to adopt healthier habits.”

If you, a friend or family member could benefit from health coaching, HealthCoach4Me.com will set you up with a “My Coaching Plan” page where you can receive coaching messages and tips, use interactive gadgets, and set up e-mail reminders. Because support from family and friends is important in reaching health and wellness goals, the website incorporates sharing features on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. This means participants can post their successes or invite family and friends to support them – or even join themselves. The site also provides links to a large health library with up-to-date health-related information from a collection of more than 1,000 patient education resources.

“Our goal is to provide tools to help patients achieve better overall health outcomes,” says Mark Johnson, vice president of GlaxoSmithKline. “While excellent health coaching tools are offered for specialty areas like smoking cessation or weight management, we believe that HealthCoach4Me takes disease management to the next level and enables people to work on a broader set of personal health goals.”

To learn more about the role of a health coach and how virtual health coaching may help you, a friend or a loved one whom you are caring for, visit www.HealthCoach4Me.com.