Persuasive Strategies for Motivating Elders to Exercise

Abstract

Several strategies have been identified for designing effective persuasive technologies that encourage people to adopt healthy lifestyle habits. However, there are no general guidelines for implementing these strategies to motivate elders to exercise, neither they have been evaluated to determine how effective they are for the elderly. To design appropriate persuasive technology prone to be adopted by elders, we are following a user-centered approach. In this paper, we report the design and evaluation of an ambient information system for mobile phones, which supports the following strategies for persuasion: abstraction, historical information and reflection, triggers for exercising, and positive and playful reinforcement.

A Design Exploration of Health-Related Community Displays

“…Supporting motivation and encouraging behaviour change is complex, and the details of the various psychology theories are beyond the scope of this paper. Helpfully, Rodriguez et al detail four of the most commonly used persuasion techniques used in tracking technology for older adults [60]:…”

Fitness Applications for Home-Based Training

“…Individual persuasion strategies have been evaluated in several studies (e.g., [ 8 , 27 ]). For instance, Rodriguez et al [27] designed a mobile app for the elderly that persuade them to walk. The system incorporates reminders , notifications, selfmonitoring and a "coin metaphor" as rewards for the users.…”

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“…User-centered strategies that are based on ambient information systems have been proposed as an effective means for this purpose (Pousman & Stasko, 2006). For example, the use of aesthetically pleasing applications to provide easily comprehensible representations of supportive information is a proven valuable tool for motivating elders to exercise (Rodríguez, Roa, Morán, & Nava-Muñoz, 2012).…”