Short Message Service for Healthy Living

PREFACE This research has been performed as graduation research for the master Content and Knowledge Engineering at Utrecht University. The topic directly appealed to me as I am interested in new technologies and have been connected with health care solutions since my bachelor graduation project which was performed at a local hospital. I enjoy investigating new research areas and the different disciplines of the research made the research challenging and interesting. Thanks go out to both my supervisors Rogier van Eijk and Robbert-Jan Beun for guiding me through the process and by providing help when it was needed. I would like to specially thank Rogier van Eijk for connecting me to the project and providing a global outline of the research approach. I would also like to thank all participants who participated in this research and provided valuable information to the design of the service. Special thanks go out to the administrator of exoft.net who provided access to the server during the 10 months of the studies. Lastly, I would like to thanks family and friends who have supported me during the course of the research and attended the final presentation of the research. Abstract Noyons 3308723 [3] ABSTRACT The physical inactivity of individuals is a burden to public health concerns. Changing the lifestyle of individuals into a more physically active lifestyle is beneficial for both public concerns as for the perceived quality of life and well-being of individuals. By applying persuasive self-supporting systems the lifestyle of individuals can gradually be changed into a more physically active lifestyle. This research investigated the dimensions of health behaviour change and created a short message service that was aimed to persuade people to take health exercises into their daily lives. Two three-week test runs were performed to acquire relevant user feedback and to evaluate the effectiveness of the persuasive design. The created short message service was evaluated to be successful in generating short-term changes, but lasting change was only measured at highly motivated users. Improvements are suggested on interaction engagement, relationship building, and to extend the scope of the created behaviour change model. Longer testing periods could lastly provide a more accurate view on the quality of the created relationship and whether real change is achieved by the service.