View source for Active2Gether - Encouraging Physical Activity Among Adolescents

{{Masterproject
|Master name=Human Ambience
|Student name=Julienka Mollee
|Project start date=2012/07/01
|Project end date=2012/12/01
|Supervisor=Natalie van der Wal
|Second reader=Michel Klein
|Thesis title=Active2Gether - Encouraging Physical Activity Among Adolescents
|Finished=Yes
|Thesis=Thesis_Julienka_Mollee.pdf
|Poster=Poster_Julienka_Mollee.pdf
}}

During young adulthood, the extent of engagement in physical activity decreases rapidly. In the Netherlands, approximately 50% of the adolescents do not meet the standards for physical activity, and one out of six is obese. Since physical inactivity is strongly related with health risks of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, it is essential to encourage people in this critical age to adopt a more active lifestyle. Modern technology provides an important means to offer tailored support, but (up to our knowledge) it is unknown to what extent these possibilities are utilized in the current supply of physical-activity related smartphone apps.

According to a well-established theory of behaviour change, the Social-Cognitive Theory by Albert Bandura, the motivation to adopt and adhere to a healthy lifestyle is determined by two main aspects: cognitive factors, such as self-evaluation and self-regulation, and social factors, such as norms and vicarious experiences. As part of my master's thesis, we aim to create a model of motivation processes behind engagement in physical activity based on this theory, that is able to reason over time and thus forecast possible undesired actions.

In addition, in order to gain insight in the state-of-the-art regarding interventions to encourage physical activity, the supply of physical-activity related apps in the iTunes app store is evaluated. Based on certain selection criteria, a set of apps will be selected for detailed reviewing, where the main research question is what types of technology are used in existing apps, or in other words, how advanced they are.

The interdisciplinary research project Active2Gether is a combined effort of the Agent Systems group and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research. It aims to develop a coaching system that facilitates behaviour change through unobtrusive monitoring, awareness of the physical and social context, and tailored coaching strategies.

===Abstract KIM 1===
In this presentation, I will introduce the interdisciplinary research project Active2Gether. It is a combined effort of the Agent Systems group and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research. It aims to develop a coaching system that facilitates behaviour change through unobtrusive monitoring, awareness of the physical and social context, and tailored coaching strategies. The background and overall objective of the project will be discussed, as well as the preliminary plans.

===Abstract KIM 2===
In this presentation, I will outline the results of my master's thesis. First, I will describe a review of smartphone apps that aim to encourage physical activity. This review serves to gain insight in the state-of-the-art of apps related to physical activity and to investigate how advanced these apps are. Second, I will present a computational model of the Social-Cognitive Theory by Bandura that is focused on physical activity. Also, I will discuss the interesting findings from several scenarios that were simulated with this model.