Theory of Planned Behavior

This is a mandatory standard, which provides:

The wellness organization has adopted evidence-based behavioral change model(s) that promote healthy behavior for all participants.

There are, of course, a wide array of widely recognized decision-making and behavioral change models.  As a side note, I did my doctoral dissertation on one model mentioned by URAC in the "Interpretive Information" section, the Theory of Planned Behavior.  Certainly, if the program uses such a widely recognized model, the documentation required to demonstrate compliance with this standard is modest -- a clear articulation of the model and brief description of its elements will probably be sufficient.  However, if the behavioral change model is not widely recognized, URAC will allow an alternative model, but you can bet the documentation requirements will be steeper.  A safe bet is that an articulation of the research underlying the operating model will be required by the reviewer if it is a less-well-known model.

Onsite, the reviewer is likely to cover this standard primarily in the interview, in an effort to make sure that the designers of the interventions are familiar with the behavioral change model being applied and how it relates to the interventions in the Program.