Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>Background Coaching has emerged as a prominent intervention across healthcare, organizational, and educational contexts, yet the field remains characterized by theoretical fragmentation and inconsistent application of evidence-based behavior change principles. Practitioners lack coherent guidance on integrating coaching frameworks with established behavior change models. Objective This scoping review mapped the literature on coaching frameworks and behavior change models to identify common elements, theoretical intersections, and gaps that could inform the development of an integrative coaching framework for professional practice. The review sought to establish the foundation for a context-centred, systems-oriented coaching framework. Methods Following established scoping review methodology (Arksey & O'Malley, 2005; Levac et al., 2010; Peters et al., 2020), a systematic search was conducted across Scopus, Web of Science, APA PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and ERIC. The search yielded 1,847 records, with 100 sources meeting inclusion criteria after screening and reference list searching. Data extraction and thematic analysis were conducted to synthesize findings. Results Thematic analysis identified five major themes: theoretical foundations of behavior change; coaching frameworks and process models; integration of behavior change models with coaching practice; key ingredients of effective coaching; and contextual applications across professional domains. Synthesis revealed common elements across frameworks and identified significant gaps: limited guidance for selecting behaviour change mechanisms, inadequate attention to transfer, neglect of sustainability, insufficient integration of contextual determinants, and fragmentation across professional domains. Eleven evidence-derived constructs were identified as building blocks for framework development: assessment, context, relationship, capability, motivation, reflection, action, feedback, behaviour, adaptation, and sustainability. These constructs form an underlying architecture in which foundational elements establish the coaching environment, internal change mechanisms activate behavior change, and long-term outcomes ensure sustainability. The concept of sustainable change capacity emerges as an integrating theme across these constructs. Conclusions The synthesis suggests that a next-generation coaching framework should be context-centred, systems-oriented, theoretically integrated, transfer-focused, and designed to support sustainable behaviour change across diverse professional settings. A systems approach incorporating individual, relational, organizational, community, and systemic levels of analysis is proposed. The Framework Development Matrix provides transparent evidence for each proposed construct, demonstrating that the framework is empirically grounded rather than intuitively derived. Future research should empirically test integrative frameworks, examine mechanisms of change, and investigate implementation processes.</p>