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Barriers and Expectations of employees regarding a healthcare-related intervention based around persuasive senor technology measuring sedentary behavior and physical activity.

Igel, F. (2016) Barriers and Expectations of employees regarding a healthcare-related intervention based around persuasive senor technology measuring sedentary behavior and physical activity.

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Abstract:Insufficient physical activity and excessive amounts of sedentary behavior are becoming increasingly prevalent among the Dutch working population. These problems might be able to be tackled via eHealth interventions using persuasive technologies. Wearable sensor technology is a suitable vehicle for an intervention of that kind. The goal of this study is to identify barriers and expectations in regards to wearables as well as perceived privacy concerns among the population. A series of 12 qualitative semi-strucutred interviews were carried out. The participants were Dutch lecturers and PHD students, with a mean age of 39 years. The results revealed several barriers among the participants, most notably, lack of usefulness of the device, disruption at work and being stigmatized as sick. The expectations of the participants included insights in users' patterns of behavior, covert design and incorporation of multiple functions. In regards to privacy risks, the participants were concerned with the provider of the wearable abusing their data for profit, as well as healthcare providers, employers and banks using that health-related data to disadvantage of the user. Factors that mitigated that risk were if the user of the device had to give permission for access or when sharing information with healthcare professionals and Universities for research. In conclusion, there are several barriers that have to be dealt with in order to successfully implement wearable sensor technology in persuasive eHealth interventions. However, there are different strategies that can be employed when dealing the issues that the participants reported, for instance ensuring procedural justice, using electronic health records (EHR) as well as organizational support. These might be interesting points of reference for further research into the successful applications of this technology.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:77 psychology
Programme:Psychology BSc (56604)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/70818
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