University of Twente Student Theses
Evaluating the acceptance, usability and perceived potential effect of the ‘Fit at work’ intervention : an intervention to persuade office workers aged 55 years and older into adopting a healthier physical activity pattern during working hours.
Scharenborg, Sanne (2016) Evaluating the acceptance, usability and perceived potential effect of the ‘Fit at work’ intervention : an intervention to persuade office workers aged 55 years and older into adopting a healthier physical activity pattern during working hours.
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| Abstract: | Older people, specifically in the age of 55 years and older, are an important risk group with regard to the development of mental and physical problems (e.g. memory problems and stiffness). Office workers in this age group are specifically vulnerable for these problems, since they often sit a lot during the day. Regular physical activity can reduce the mental and physical problems, slow down the declines of the ageing process and increase the overall work performance. Within the European PEARL project, Roessingh Research and Development (RRD) has developed an intervention in the form of a smartphone application, called ‘Fit at work’, to persuade office workers into adopting a healthier physical activity pattern during working hours. The application provides physical activity suggestions based on two primary goals, namely: 1. to motivate older office workers to be at least 30 minutes physical active during the workday, and 2. to prevent them from sitting 45 minutes in a row. In this study, the acceptance, usability and potential effect of ‘Fit at work’ was evaluated with 8 office workers aged 55 years and older during a two week period. To assess the acceptance and usability, questionnaires and interviews (based on the TAM model) were conducted with each individual participant. The potential effect was assessed by means of the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), whereby a short digital question was asked after each physical activity suggestion, and by the use of physical activity data from the Modulus of the Accelerometer output (IMA) from the Promove3D. All data was analyzed on individual level by means of n-of-1 analysis. Outcomes showed that all participants accepted the intervention, perceived it as easy to use, and had the intention to use the intervention. Group effects were perceived, but individual models show no potential effects. There was no direct relation between intention and behavior for the individual participants, which could have different explanations (e.g. inappropriate behavioral intention question, mediating variable). Conducting a larger trial to find out for which people the intervention might work or not, so looking at the characteristics of people, may result in finding individual effect. In addition, adaptations (e.g. lower the frequency of the physical activity suggestions, shorter suggestions) in the intervention are necessary, which are in line with the suggestions of the office workers. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology MSc (66604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/71507 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
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