Contempt Before Phase II

After Phase I , the team will evaluate the behavioral changes (e.g., amount and intensity of physical activities) over time and the corresponding techniques and design contexts. Based on our theoretical models and the activity outcomes, we will identify facilitators and barriers affecting physical activities and use the findings to design the Smartphone App for the Phase-II intervention. At the end fof phase I, we will perform a repeated-measures test of our baseline measures.

Phase II Description

The team will develop a smartphone application equipped with interactive modules to boost daily physical activities, such as individual training protocols and reminders and social communication. To make the app more attractive and easier to use for older adults, we promote direct participation of older adults from the development phase. We will identify four “Champions” at each partnering organization, consisting of older adult users and staff, and (virtually) meet with them at least once a month to obtain feedback about the app design, quality, format, and feature functionality. This iterative design ensures that the features and the technology meet older adults’ expectations and do not result in any health disparities in the application. The same group of people will be invited to join Phase 2. We may recruit additional participants for Phase 2 only, through the same partner organizations. 

The app incorporates two framing and motivating techniques: gaming (e.g., Pokémon Go)

and feedback interaction (e.g., Facebook).

We seek to understand the most effective and sustainable strategies for older adults to form long-term habits that increase physical activities. The gaming framework adaptively sets daily goals and provides multiple levels of interactive physical activities (e.g., walking one mile and taking a photo of a hummingbird, participating in Zumba via Zoom with peers) while the feedback framework facilitates social engagement and peer feedback through the technology. All participants (except the control group) must use the app for 24 weeks and validate up to five days of activity data. Older adults in the control group will receive a pedometer and an exercise diary to track physical activities.

The app records the GPS tracks of physical activities and measures the duration, frequency, and length of the participants’ physical activities. This longitudinal data represents the patterns of physical activities over time and how passive and active interventions trigger near-term behavior changes and sustainable habit-forming healthy lifestyles. The team also will evaluate how the decision-making of older adults varies by their social determinants, built environment, or demographic profiles. Based on our extensive experience, we anticipate nine months to develop the system.

Duration: 24 Weeks