PosterPDF Available

Ally: A Smartphone-based Physical Activity Intervention

December 2017

DOI:10.13140/RG.2.2.13559.93605

Conference: CSS Health Insurance meets CDHI Event
At: Lucerne, Switzerland

Project: Centre for Digital Health Interventions (CDHI), ETH Zurich & University of St.Gallen, www.c4dhi.org

Authors:

Florian Künzler

ETH Zurich

Jan-Niklas Kramer

University of St.Gallen

Varun Mishra

Northeastern University

Bastien Presset

University of Lausanne

Show all 9 authorsHide

No behavior has an impact on human health as great as physical activity (PA). We therefore developed Ally, a smartphone-based 6-week PA intervention. Ally seeks to exploit the ubiquity and sensing capabilities of mobile phones to adapt the provision of PA interventions to the context of the user. In this research we investigate the following research questions: (1) What are effective components of Ally, a mHealth physical activity intervention? and (2) Can mobile sensor data predict opportune moments for interventions?

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www.c4dhi.org

JITAI stands for Just-in-time adaptive Interventions (

NAH16)

Florian Künzler

, Jan-Niklas Kramer

, Varun Mishra

, Bastien Presset

Shwana N. Smith

, David Kotz

, Urte Scholz

, Elgar Fleisch

1,2

& Tobias Kowatsch

1 ETH Zurich, 2 University of St.Gallen, 3 Dartmouth College, 4 University of Lausanne, 5 University of Michigan, 6 University of Zurich

Ally: A Smartphone-based

Physical Activity Intervention

1. Background

No behavior has an impact on human health as great

as physical activity (PA). We therefore developed

Ally, a smartphone-based 6-week PA intervention.

Ally seeks to exploit the ubiquity and sensing

capabilities of mobile phones to adapt the provision

of PA interventions to the context of the user.

2. Research Questions

(1) What are effective components of Ally, a mHealth

physical activity intervention?

(2) Can mobile sensor data predict opportune

moments for interventions?

3. JITAI Framework

4. Ally Field Study

5. Recruitment Process

We conduct a longitudinal factorial experiment to test

intervention components and collect a variety of sensor data.

References

Florian Künzler, Jan-Niklas Kramer & Tobias Kowatsch (2017) Efficacy of mobile context-aware n otification management systems: A

systematic literature review and met a-analysis", 2017 IEEE 13th Intern ational Conference on Wireless and Mobile Comp uting,

Networking and Communications (WiMob), 131-138, doi:10.1109/WiMOB.2017.8115839

Nahum-Shani, I., S. N. Smith, B. J. Spring, L. M. Collins, K. Witkiewitz, A. Tewari & S. A. Murphy (2016). "Just-in-Time Adaptive

Interventions (JITAIs) in Mob ile Health: Key Components and Design Principles for Ongoing Health Behavior Support." Annals of

Behavioral Medicine, ePrint ahead doi:10.1007/s12160-016-9830-8.

Lucerne | December 4 | 2017CSS Meets & Greets CDHI

Partner

State of vulnerability

and opportunity

State of receptivity

JITAI

Proximal

Outcome

Distal

Outcome

Invitations sent to

N = 30.000 CSS customers

n = 749 (2.5%)

clicked the invitation link

n = 311 (42%)

completed T1 survey

n = 273 (88%)

registered in the Ally system

n = 55 not eligible

n = 321 declined to participate

n = 62 dropped out

n = 191

gave reasons for not participating

ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.

Efficacy of Mobile Context-aware Notification Management Systems: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis

Conference Paper

Oct 2017

Notifications can be relevant but they can also decrease productivity when delivered at the wrong point in time. Smartphones are increasingly capable of detecting relevant context information with the goal to decrease the number of these badly timed interruptions. Accordingly, research on context- aware notification management systems (CNMSs) on mobile devices has received increasing attention recently, prototypes have been built and empirically evaluated. However, there exists no systematic overview of mobile CNMSs evaluating their efficacy. The objectives of the current work are therefore to identify relevant empirical studies that have assessed the efficacy of mobile CNMSs and to discuss the findings with respect to future work. A systematic literature review and meta-analysis was conducted to address these objectives. Consistent with prior work, two efficacy metrics were applied: response rate and response delay. A keyword-based search strategy was used and resulted in 1’634 studies, out of which 8 were relevant for the topic. Findings indicate that mobile CNMSs increase the response rate, while there was only little evidence that they reduce response time, too. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed and future research is outlined that aims at further increasing the efficacy of mobile CNMSs.

Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions (JITAIs) in Mobile Health: Key Components and Design Principles for Ongoing Health Behavior Support

Article

Sep 2016

Background The just-in-time adaptive intervention (JITAI) is an intervention design aiming to provide the right type/amount of support, at the right time, by adapting to an individual?s changing internal and contextual state. The availability of increasingly powerful mobile and sensing technologies underpins the use of JITAIs to support health behavior, as in such a setting an individual?s state can change rapidly, unexpectedly, and in his/her natural environment. PurposeDespite the increasing use and appeal of JITAIs, a major gap exists between the growing technological capabilities for delivering JITAIs and research on the development and evaluation of these interventions. Many JITAIs have been developed with minimal use of empirical evidence, theory, or accepted treatment guidelines. Here, we take an essential first step towards bridging this gap. Methods Building on health behavior theories and the extant literature on JITAIs, we clarify the scientific motivation for JITAIs, define their fundamental components, and highlight design principles related to these components. Examples of JITAIs from various domains of health behavior research are used for illustration. Conclusion As we enter a new era of technological capacity for delivering JITAIs, it is critical that researchers develop sophisticated and nuanced health behavior theories capable of guiding the construction of such interventions. Particular attention has to be given to better understanding the implications of providing timely and ecologically sound support for intervention adherence and retention.