ABSTRACT
Persuasive games are widely implemented in the healthcare domain to promote behaviour change among individuals. Previous research shows that using persuasive games increases motivation and awareness, leading to a positive change in behaviour. However, there is little knowledge on which persuasive strategies will motivate people at different Stages of Behaviour Change and whether tailoring persuasive games to match users' stages of change will increase their effectiveness with respect to their motivational appeal towards promoting disease awareness and prevention using the ARCS motivation scales and their intention to adopt the precautionary measures. To address this gap, using COVID-19 as a case study, we designed two different versions of a persuasive game, called COVID Pacman, using different persuasive strategies. The two versions of the game target the same goal of motivating the adoption of precautionary measures. We conducted a quantitative study (N=127) followed by semi-structured interviews of 18 participants. The results of conducting an ANOVA on the quantitative data and thematic analysis on the qualitative study show that tailoring the persuasive games to individual's stages of change by using appropriate persuasive strategies increased their effectiveness with respect to their ability to motivate people to adopt the precautionary measures towards disease prevention compared to the non-tailored version. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Human-Computer Interaction is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
Few studies have considered more than one behavior, despite the tendency towards multiple behaviors, and there are none that have focused on a Latino population. We determined the concurrence of four unhealthy behaviors related to glycemic control and identified common cognitive factors at advanced stages of readiness for change in patients with type 2 diabetes treated in primary care. A cross-sectional study was carried out during August-December 2018 in northeastern Mexico. We consecutively included patients between 20 and 70 years who were without medical contraindication, physical impediment against exercise, pregnancy and edentulism, among other selection criteria (n = 407). Stages of behavior were measured according to the Transtheoretical Model. Pros, cons, self-efficacy, susceptibility, and severity data were collected by interview. Statistical analysis consisted of descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression. A total of 36.7% exhibited more than one unhealthy behavior in precontemplation or contemplation (no interest or some interest in changing consumption of refined sugars and saturated fats, exercise, or oral hygiene behavior). Cons (p < 0.05) and self-efficacy (p < 0.001) were common to all four unhealthy behaviors, independent of potential confounders. Studies like ours facilitate the recognition of individuals with multiple unhealthy behaviors who share equivalent profiles of readiness for change before implementing public health programs.