This position is responsible for the delivery of Whole Health Coaching and skill development of the local Medical Center's Whole Health Coach program, including provision of care through coaching and promotion and education regarding Whole Health Coaching to Veterans and staff.

Duties

Major Duties: Reviews current health behaviors and develops customized treatment plans with Veterans. These plans include personalized goals, action steps and interventions. Individualize intervention strategies to help the client utilize existing skills and develop new ones to enhance success. Schedule ongoing sessions to assess progress and assist in navigating obstacles or challenges. Guide Veterans to learn about available support tools in the VA and the community that assist in attainment of goals. Utilizes motivational interviewing and health coaching techniques and processes, learned through prerequisite health coach training, to assist members in developing a realistic plan to accomplish their goals. Provides Veterans and family members with information regarding lifestyle management including weight management, nutrition, exercise/fitness, smoking cessation, stress management, diabetes, pain management, and other appropriate conditions that are in line with the personalized health plan developed between the health care team and the patient, and in coordination with programs providing specific services when applicable, e.g., MOVE! for weight management or smoking cessation classes, if Veteran is enrolled in these programs. Maintains education and knowledge regarding lifestyle (habits and behaviors) and clinical outcomes, including behaviors that improve Veterans' health and well-being and those related to poor clinical outcomes. Encourages and assists Veterans with the adoption of habits that are conducive to a higher quality of life and in alignment with the Veteran's goals. Identify habits and behaviors that are harmful to quality of life and related to chronic illness. Actively guides Veterans in the exploration of core elements of personal health planning through individual and group based programs. Provides follow-up care through telephone clinics or secure messaging between face to face appointments. Uses VISTA, CPRS, Microsoft office software, Intranet and Internet and other applicable software to track and support patients progress. Communicate proactively and effectively with Veterans, peers and Supervisors. The position promotes the use of health coaching throughout the facility, educating internal and external customers on the benefits of a coaching approach, publicizing available resources, developing coaching clinics and groups, participating in outreach events, and serving as a champion for Whole Health Coaching. Health Coaches work with their facility and organization to promote healing relationships, healing environments, and a patient-centered approach to care across all service lines. They collaborate as needed with the local Healthy Living Teams, including the Health Behavior Coordinator, the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program Manager, the Veterans Health Education Coordinator and the MOVE! Coordinator. Develops information for Veterans about the Whole Health Group and Individual Programs. In the developmental capacity the position must be familiar with and carefully follow procedures and insure standardized conditions. Interpersonal skills to present recommendations that improve patient services. Participates in leadership roles on local, state and/or national professional organizations specific to health coaching. Maintains a close working relationship with various program officials. Coordinates and provides recommendations in the application of standards that affect the service. Provides training and troubleshooting for other health coaches in health coaching administrative processes and associated supporting issues. In order to support Veterans' plans for health and well-being and provide information and resources for achieving goals, the work of this position requires operational knowledge of VA rules and regulations regarding eligibility, enrollment, income assessment, and insurance for veterans' medical care in order to provide educational guidance to the Veteran, knowledge of VA inpatient and outpatient programs and operations, admissions, scheduling, sharing agreements, and travel as well as operational knowledge of laws and regulations relating to the protection of the privacy of medical information. The work requires the ability to use automated systems and interpersonal and communications skills. Develops and analyzes relevant data that can be used to prepare analytical and interpretive reports and guides. Works as a team member on the treatment team. Reviews portions of proposed changes in treatment plans and other materials to determine compliance with Federal requirements and benefit of expected results. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. *** Continued in Requirements Section *****

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 12/18/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. For a GS-09 position you must have serves 52 weeks at the GS-07. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. Candidates must meet the following Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR) Degree: behavioral or social science; or related disciplines appropriate to the position. Note: (This is successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree that included a major field of study or specific course requirements. The nature and quality of this required course work must have been such that it would serve as a prerequisite for more advanced study in the field or subject-matter area. Related course work generally refers to courses that may be accepted as part of the program major.).OR Experience : Four years of appropriate experience that demonstrated that the applicant has acquired knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field. OR Combination of education/experience: that provided the applicant with knowledge of one or more of the behavioral or social sciences equivalent to a major in the field. Note: (The quality of the combination of education & experience must be sufficient to demonstrate that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform work in the occupation, & is comparable to that normally acquired through the successful completion of a full 4-year course of study with a major in the appropriate field. In addition, to courses in the major & related fields, a typical college degree would have included courses that involved analysis, writing, critical thinking, research, etc. These courses would have provided an applicant with skills and abilities enough to perform progressively more responsible work in the occupation. Therefore, creditable experience should have demonstrated similarly appropriate skills or abilities needed to perform the work of the occupation. In addition to the above IOR, you may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-07 Qualifications: Specialized Experience: You must have 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: knowledge of health coaching structure, process, skills and techniques, knowledge of ethical code and rules of conduct for health coaches, and existing VHA and community resources that support Veterans' personalized health goals, as well as other health & well-being programs available at a facility or in the community to support their personal health plans, ability to retrieve, track and trend information needed for reporting related to health coaching. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 year of graduate-level education or superior academic achievement. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education (beyond 18 semester hours) as described above. Note: Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience. GS-09 Qualifications: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: knowledge of health coaching structure, process, skills and techniques, knowledge of ethical code and rules of conduct for health coaches, knowledge of current research literature related to health and wellness, including behaviors that promote wellness and those that are detrimental, knowledge of pertinent laws, regulations, policies and precedents to determine their impact on the customer service program and related support resources in the area studied in order to assist the Veteran in getting additional support or care when that is required, as well as navigate the personalized health inventory, personalized health planning, components of health and well-being, and existing VHA and community resources that support Veterans' personalized health goals, as well as other health and well-being programs available at a facility or in the community to support their personal health plans, personalized health planning, components of health and well-being, and existing VHA and community resources that support Veterans' personalized health goals, as well as other health and well-being programs available at a facility or in the community to support their personal health plans, personalized health planning. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 2 years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a master's degree or master's or equivalent graduate degree. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education (beyond 18 semester hours) as described above. Note: Only graduate level education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be combined with experience. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Human Factors Influencing/ Negotiating Interpersonal Skills Leadership Information Management Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. *****Continued in Additional Information section *****

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

Contacts

• Address Audie L Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital 7400 Merton Minter Boulevard San Antonio, TX 78229 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]