Designing Online Learning That Truly Supports Health and Wellbeing

Health and wellbeing professionals are educators long before they ever think of themselves that way. Every session, programme, or conversation is a form of teaching helping someone understand, reframe, practise, and change.

Increasingly, practitioners are exploring online courses not as a replacement for client work, but as a way to extend support, reinforce learning, and reach people who may never step into a clinic or coaching space.

When designed well, online learning can be a powerful ally in health and wellbeing work. When misdesigned, it becomes noise.

This article looks at what actually works, backed by experience and evidence.

Why Online Learning Works in Health & Wellbeing (When It’s Thoughtful)

Health education isn’t about speed or volume. It’s about trust, clarity, and repetition.

One practitioner we worked with put it:

“Clients would leave sessions feeling motivated, but a week later they’d forgotten half of what we discussed. The course gave them something steady to return to without needing another appointment.”

Online courses allow learners to:

• Revisit material at moments of need

• Learn in calmer, more private settings

• Progress without feeling rushed or judged

• Build understanding gradually, not all at once

For professionals, courses often become pre-session foundations, post-session reinforcement, or standalone programmes that support people earlier in their journey.

Helpful Tip #1: Outcomes Matter More Than Information

A common trap is assuming learners want everything you know.

In reality, they want help navigating one specific challenge at a time.

As one health educator told us during a course redesign:

“Once we stripped it back to what someone needed to do differently not just understand  the whole course became lighter and more usable.”

Clear outcomes reduce overwhelm and help learners feel progress early, which is especially important in wellbeing contexts.

Helpful Tip #2: Structure Reduces Cognitive Load

In health education, structure is not rigidity; it’s reassurance.

This is supported by research. A 2019 review published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research found that well-structured digital health interventions were significantly more effective at supporting behaviour change than unstructured or information-heavy approaches.

Similarly, the World Health Organisation has highlighted that digital health education is most effective when it:

• Is modular and paced

• Encourages reflection and self-monitoring

• Supports autonomy rather than compliance

In practice, this means:

• Short, focused lessons

• Predictable module layouts

• Gentle prompts rather than pressure

• Clear “what next?” signals

Structure helps learners feel safe enough to engage.

Helpful Tip #3: Technology Should Fade Into the Background

The best compliment a learner can give a course platform is not noticing it.

One course creator we supported said:

“The difference wasn’t the content  it was that learners stopped emailing me with ‘how do I find…?’ questions. Everything finally made sense.”

Using an all-in-one platform like Kajabi allows health professionals to:

• Keep learning, communication, and resources in one place

• Automate admin without losing the human feel

• Create a calm, consistent learner experience

But the platform is only as good as the thinking behind it. Poor structure scales confusion.

Turning Professional Expertise Into a Learning Experience

At The Customer’s Shoes, we work with health and wellbeing professionals who want their digital offerings to feel:

• Ethical

• Professional

• Grounded in real change

Much of our work involves:

• Turning books, workshops, or clinical programmes into structured online courses

• Designing learning journeys that respect emotional and cognitive load

• Building courses, memberships, and coaching programmes on Kajabi

• Supporting practitioners who want to scale without dilution

As one client reflected after launch:

“It finally feels like my work exists outside the room without losing its integrity.”

Our Final Thought

Online courses in health and wellbeing don’t succeed because they are clever or flashy.

They succeed because they:

• Respect the learner’s capacity

• Support real-life application

• They are designed with care

The most important question isn’t “Will people buy this?”
It’s:

“Would this genuinely support someone if they found it at the right moment?”

When the answer is yes, the course becomes more than a product; it becomes part of someone’s support system.

If you ever want to explore what that could look like for your work. If you would like a complimentary call to discuss, we’re always happy to begin with a conversation.