Gamified and persuasive systems as behavior change agents for health and wellness

Kappen, Dennis L.; Orji, Rita

doi:10.1145/3123750

Cited by 31 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…In the context of mobile applications, these elements are integrated as specific features for purposes of bolstering usability and compelling continued use [31,32].…”

Section: Gamification Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, in the past few years, more and more mHealth solutions have begun to use game elements to drive user behavior [29] in a practice known as gamification [30]. Game elements are incorporated into the greater context of the mobile application to bolster usability and compel continued and prolonged use [31,32]. However, gamification is not thoroughly understood yet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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3MD for Chronic Conditions, a Model for Motivational mHealth Design: Embedded Case Study (Preprint)

Giunti¹

2018

Preprint

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Chronic conditions are the leading cause of death in the world. Major improvements in acute care and diagnostics have created a tendency towards the chronification of formerly terminal conditions, requiring people with these conditions to learn how to self-manage. Mobile technologies hold promise as self-management tools due to their ubiquity and costeffectiveness.The delivery of health-related services through the use of mobile technologies (mHealth) has grown exponentially in recent years. However, only a fraction of these solutions takes into consideration the views of relevant stakeholders like healthcare professionals or even patients. The use of behavioral change models (BCM) has proven important in developing successful health solutions, yet engaging patients remains a challenge. There is a trend in mHealth solutions called gamification that attempts to use game elements to drive user behavior and increase engagement. As it stands, designers of mHealth solutions for behavioral change in chronic conditions have no clear way of deciding what factors are relevant to consider.The focus of this work is to discover factors for the design of mHealth solutions for chronic patients; to do so, negotiations between medical knowledge, BCM, and gamification were explored through an embedded case study research methodology. The data obtained was thematically analyzed to create the Model for Motivational Mobile-health Design for chronic conditions (3MD).The 3MD model guides the design of condition-oriented gamified behavioral change mHealth solutions. The main components are: 1) Condition-specific, which describe factors that need to be adjusted and adapted for each particular chronic condition; 2) Motivation-related; which are factors that address how to influence behaviors in an engaging manner; and 3) Technologybased, which are factors that are directly connected to the technical capabilities of mobile technologies. 3MD also provides a series of high level illustrative design questions for designers to use and consider during the design process.The present work addresses a recognized gap in research and practice, and proposes a unique model that could be of use in the generation of new solutions to help chronic patients.

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“…In the context of mobile applications, these elements are integrated as specific features for purposes of bolstering usability and compelling continued use [31,32].…”

Section: Gamification Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

3MD for Chronic Conditions, a Model for Motivational mHealth Design: Embedded Case Study (Preprint)

Giunti¹

2018

Preprint

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“…Gamification [25] is generally understood as the integration of specific features into the greater context of mobile applications for purposes of bolstering usability and compelling continued use [43,44]. The following are game elements established in both literature and practice for impacting health behavior [45][46][47][48][49]:…”

Section: Gamification and Game Elementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, without a meaningful context, they may seem trivial and not effectively engage users. Also, while gamification is proposed as a method to compel continued use [43,44], there are studies that challenge that notion [80][81][82][83]. It's important to evaluate behavioral change interventions outcome in order to understand whether they are effective or not.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

More Stamina, a Gamified mHealth Solution for Persons with Multiple Sclerosis: Research Through Design (Preprint)

Giunti¹,

Mylonopoulou²,

Rivera-Romero³

2017

Preprint

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Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the world's most common neurologic disorders. Fatigue is one of most common symptoms that persons with MS experience, having significant impact on their quality of life and limiting their activity levels. Self-management strategies are used to support them in the care of their health. Mobile health (mHealth) solutions are a way to offer persons with chronic conditions tools to successfully manage their symptoms and problems. Gamification is a current trend among mHealth apps used to create engaging user experiences and is suggested to be effective for behavioral change. To be effective, mHealth solutions need to be designed to specifically meet the intended audience needs. User-centered design (UCD) is a design philosophy that proposes placing endusers' needs and characteristics in the center of software design and development and involving users early in the different phases of the software life cycle. There is a current gap in mHealth apps for persons with MS which presents an interesting area to explore.

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“…Additionally, in the past few years, more mHealth solutions have begun to use game elements to drive user behavior [29] in a practice known as gamification [30]. Game elements are incorporated into the greater context of the mobile app to bolster usability and compel continued and prolonged use [31,32]. However, gamification is not thoroughly understood yet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

3MD for Chronic Conditions, a Model for Motivational mHealth Design: Embedded Case Study

Giunti¹

2018

JMIR Serious Games

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BackgroundChronic conditions are the leading cause of death in the world. Major improvements in acute care and diagnostics have created a tendency toward the chronification of formerly terminal conditions, requiring people with these conditions to learn how to self-manage. Mobile technologies hold promise as self-management tools due to their ubiquity and cost-effectiveness. The delivery of health-related services through mobile technologies (mobile health, mHealth) has grown exponentially in recent years. However, only a fraction of these solutions take into consideration the views of relevant stakeholders such as health care professionals or even patients. The use of behavioral change models (BCMs) has proven important in developing successful health solutions, yet engaging patients remains a challenge. There is a trend in mHealth solutions called gamification that attempts to use game elements to drive user behavior and increase engagement. As it stands, designers of mHealth solutions for behavioral change in chronic conditions have no clear way of deciding what factors are relevant to consider.ObjectiveThe goal of this work is to discover factors for the design of mHealth solutions for chronic patients using negotiations between medical knowledge, BCMs, and gamification.MethodsThis study uses an embedded case study research methodology consisting of 4 embedded units: 1) cross-sectional studies of mHealth applications; 2) statistical analysis of gamification presence; 3) focus groups and interviews to relevant stakeholders; and 4) research through design of an mHealth solution. The data obtained was thematically analyzed to create a conceptual model for the design of mHealth solutions.ResultsThe Model for Motivational Mobile-health Design (3MD) for chronic conditions guides the design of condition-oriented gamified behavioral change mHealth solutions. The main components are (1) condition specific, which describe factors that need to be adjusted and adapted for each particular chronic condition; (2) motivation related, which are factors that address how to influence behaviors in an engaging manner; and (3) technology based, which are factors that are directly connected to the technical capabilities of mobile technologies. The 3MD also provides a series of high-level illustrative design questions for designers to use and consider during the design process.ConclusionsThis work addresses a recognized gap in research and practice, and proposes a unique model that could be of use in the generation of new solutions to help chronic patients.

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Gamified and persuasive systems as behavior change agents for health and wellness

Abstract: Gameful elements and persuasive strategies can motivate and encourage people to take charge of their health and achieve their ultimate wellness goal.

Cited by 31 publications

References 4 publications

3MD for Chronic Conditions, a Model for Motivational mHealth Design: Embedded Case Study (Preprint)

3MD for Chronic Conditions, a Model for Motivational mHealth Design: Embedded Case Study (Preprint)

More Stamina, a Gamified mHealth Solution for Persons with Multiple Sclerosis: Research Through Design (Preprint)

3MD for Chronic Conditions, a Model for Motivational mHealth Design: Embedded Case Study

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