Relationships of the Psychological Influence of Food and Barriers to Lifestyle Change to Weight and Utilization of Online Weight Loss Tools

Abstract: Introduction: The psychological influence of food (PFS) and perceived barriers to lifestyle change (PBLC) were considered as predictors of body mass index and website tool utilization (TU) in an online weight loss program. Materials and Methodology: An archival analysis of all (N = 1361) overweight/obese (BMI M = 31.6 + 6.24 kg/m 2), adult (M = 42.0 + 10.72 years) users (82.4 % female) of an evidence-based, multidisciplinary Internet weight loss program was performed. Predictor variables included: PFS and PBLC, age, and longest maintained weight loss in relation to 1) BMI 2

Impact of physical health and exercise activity on online user experience:elderly people and high risk for diabetes

Abstract This article studies how an individual’s physical wellbeing contributes to one’s online user experience. The study subjects were elderly people at high risk for type 2 diabetes. The results suggest that the web usage experience of these pre-diabetic individuals is related to their physical health status and level of physical activity. Those with a better physical health status were more likely to feel ease of orientation in their web usage, and those with more frequent regular physical activity were more likely to perceive pleasure in navigating the web. In practice, variation in physical health and activity levels between individuals could, and should. be addressed in designing systems and services. In more general, studying user experience on par with biochemical measurements provides an exciting combination of research methods and paves the way for new design practices

The role of information search in seeking alternative treatment for back pain: a qualitative analysis

Background: Health consumers have moved away from a reliance on medical practitioner advice to more independent decision processes and so their information search processes have subsequently widened. This study examined how persons with back pain searched for alternative treatment types and service providers. That is, what information do they seek and how; what sources do they use and why; and by what means do they search for it? Methods: 12 persons with back pain were interviewed. The method used was convergent interviewing. This involved a series of semi-structured questions to obtain open-ended answers. The interviewer analysed the responses and refined the questions after each interview, to converge on the dominant factors influencing decisions about treatment patterns. Results: Persons with back pain mainly search their memories and use word of mouth (their doctor and friends) for information about potential treatments and service providers. Their search is generally limited due to personal, provider-related and information-supply reasons. However,they did want in-depth information about the alternative treatments and providers in an attempt to establish apriori their efficacy in treating their specific back problems. They searched different sources depending on the type of information they required. Conclusions: The findings differ from previous studies about the types of information health consumers require when searching for information about alternative or mainstream healthcare services. The results have identified for the first time that limited information availability was only one of three categories of reasons identified about why persons with back pain do not search for more information particularly from external non-personal sources

Tailoring real-time physical activity coaching systems: a literature survey and model

Technology mediated healthcare services designed to stimulate patients’ self-efficacy are widely regarded as a promising paradigm to reduce the burden on the healthcare system. The promotion of healthy, active living is a topic of growing interest in research and business. Recent advances in wireless sensor technology and the widespread availability of smartphones have made it possible to monitor and coach users continuously during daily life activities. Physical activity monitoring systems are frequently designed for use over long periods of time placing usability, acceptance and effectiveness in terms of compliance high on the list of design priorities to achieve sustainable behavioral change. Tailoring, or the process of adjusting the system’s behavior to individuals in a specific context, is an emerging topic of interest within the field. In this article we report a survey of tailoring techniques currently employed in state of the art real time physical activity coaching systems. We present a survey of state of the art activity coaching systems as well as a conceptual framework which identifies seven important tailoring concepts that are currently in use and how they relate to each other. A detailed analysis of current use of tailoring techniques in real time physical activity coaching applications is presented. According to the literature, tailoring is currently used only sparsely in this field. We underline the need to increase adoption of tailoring methods that are based on available theories, and call for innovative evaluation methods to demonstrate the effectiveness of individual tailoring approaches