Background:Children with asthma can decrease the impact of their disease by improving their physical activity (PA). However, health care providers lack interventions for children with asthma that effectively increase their PA levels and achieve behavior change. A technology-supported approach can positively influence PA and physical functioning in children.Objective:The aims of this study were to develop a technology-supported intervention that facilitates health care providers in promoting PA for children (aged 8 to 12 years) with asthma and to systematically describe this developmental process.Methods:Intervention mapping (IM) was applied to develop a blended and technology-supported intervention in cocreation with children with asthma, their parents, and health care providers. In accordance with the IM framework, the following steps were performed: conduct a needs assessment; define the intervention outcome, performance objectives, and change objectives; select theory-based intervention methods and strategies; create components of the intervention and conduct pilot tests; create an implementation plan; and create an evaluation plan.Results:We developed the blended intervention Foxfit that consists of an app with a PA monitor for children (aged 8 to 12 years) with asthma and a web-based dashboard for their health care provider. The intervention focuses on PA in everyday life to improve social participation. Foxfit contains components based on behavior change principles and gamification, including goal setting, rewards, action planning, monitoring, shaping knowledge, a gamified story, personal coaching and feedback, and a tailored approach. An evaluation plan was created to assess the intervention’s usability and feasibility for both children and health care providers.Conclusions:The IM framework was very useful for systematically developing a technology-supported intervention and for describing the translational process from scientific evidence, the needs and wishes of future users, and behavior change principles into this intervention. This has led to the technology-supported intervention Foxfit that facilitates health care providers in promoting PA in children with asthma. The structured description of the development process and functional components shows the way behavior change techniques are incorporated in the intervention.Trial Registration:International Clinical Trial Registry Platform NTR6658; https://tinyurl.com/3rxejksf
Introduction: Many adults do not reach the recommended physical activity (PA) guidelines, which can lead to serious health problems. A promising method to increase PA is the use of smartphone PA applications. However, despite the development and evaluation of multiple PA apps, it remains unclear how to develop and design engaging and effective PA apps. Furthermore, little is known on ways to harness the potential of artificial intelligence for developing personalized apps. In this paper, we describe the design and development of the Playful data-driven Active Urban Living (PAUL): a personalized PA application.Methods: The two-phased development process of the PAUL apps rests on principles from the behavior change model; the Integrate, Design, Assess, and Share (IDEAS) framework; and the behavioral intervention technology (BIT) model. During the first phase, we explored whether location-specific information on performing PA in the built environment is an enhancement to a PA app. During the second phase, the other modules of the app were developed. To this end, we first build the theoretical foundation for the PAUL intervention by performing a literature study. Next, a focus group study was performed to translate the theoretical foundations and the needs and wishes in a set of user requirements. Since the participants indicated the need for reminders at a for-them-relevant moment, we developed a self-learning module for the timing of the reminders. To initialize this module, a data-mining study was performed with historical running data to determine good situations for running.Results: The results of these studies informed the design of a personalized mobile health (mHealth) application for running, walking, and performing strength exercises. The app is implemented as a set of modules based on the persuasive strategies “monitoring of behavior,” “feedback,” “goal setting,” “reminders,” “rewards,” and “providing instruction.” An architecture was set up consisting of a smartphone app for the user, a back-end server for storage and adaptivity, and a research portal to provide access to the research team.Conclusions: The interdisciplinary research encompassing psychology, human movement sciences, computer science, and artificial intelligence has led to a theoretically and empirically driven leisure time PA application. In the current phase, the feasibility of the PAUL app is being assessed.
In elite sports, a case is increasingly made for the structural inclusion of what we label as planned disruptions. These are structured and deliberate training activities whereby athletes are exposed to increased and/or changing demands under controlled circumstances. Despite the growing body of evidence in support of planned disruptions (Sarkar & Fletcher, 2017), there is a lack of knowledge on which strategies coaches use in an applied context and why they use them. The present study, therefore, aimed at exploring the different types of planned disruptions high-performance coaches use and the desired outcomes of these disruptions. To this end, thematic analysis (Braun, Clarke, & Weate, 2016) was used to analyze semistructured interviews with 9 talent development and elite-level coaches (M age = 42.9, SD = 8.3; 6 male, 3 female). Results indicated that coaches use a combination of 9 types of planned disruptions (i.e., location, competition simulation, punishments and rewards, physical strain, stronger competition, distractions, unfairness, restrictions, and outside the box). These strategies were used to familiarize athletes to pressure, create awareness, develop or refine personal resources, and promote team processes. Three additional themes emerged, namely, the surprise use of planned disruptions, periodization, and the impact on personal relationships. The findings in the present study can guide further applied and theoretical explorations of the use of planned disruptions.
Physical rehabilitation programs revolve around the repetitive execution of exercises since it has been proven to lead to better rehabilitation results. Although beginning the motor (re)learning process early is paramount to obtain good recovery outcomes, patients do not normally see/experience any short-term improvement, which has a toll on their motivation. Therefore, patients find it difficult to stay engaged in seemingly mundane exercises, not only in terms of adhering to the rehabilitation program, but also in terms of proper execution of the movements. One way in which this motivation problem has been tackled is to employ games in the rehabilitation process. These games are designed to reward patients for performing the exercises correctly or regularly. The rewards can take many forms, for instance providing an experience that is engaging (fun), one that is aesthetically pleasing (appealing visual and aural feedback), or one that employs gamification elements such as points, badges, or achievements. However, even though some of these serious game systems are designed together with physiotherapists and with the patients’ needs in mind, many of them end up not being used consistently during physical rehabilitation past the first few sessions (i.e. novelty effect). Thus, in this project, we aim to 1) Identify, by means of literature reviews, focus groups, and interviews with the involved stakeholders, why this is happening, 2) Develop a set of guidelines for the successful deployment of serious games for rehabilitation, and 3) Develop an initial implementation process and ideas for potential serious games. In a follow-up application, we intend to build on this knowledge and apply it in the design of a (set of) serious game for rehabilitation to be deployed at one of the partners centers and conduct a longitudinal evaluation to measure the success of the application of the deployment guidelines.
