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Promoting Occupational Health through Gamification and E-Coaching: A 5-Month User Engagement Study

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  • Chao Zhang

    (Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 Eindhoven, The Netherlands
    Current address: Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80140, 3508 Utrecht, The Netherlands.)

  • Pieter van Gorp

    (Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 Eindhoven, The Netherlands)

  • Maxine Derksen

    (Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 Eindhoven, The Netherlands)

  • Raoul Nuijten

    (Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 Eindhoven, The Netherlands)

  • Wijnand A. IJsselsteijn

    (Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 Eindhoven, The Netherlands)

  • Alberto Zanutto

    (Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Via Sommarive, 18, 38123 Povo, Italy)

  • Fabio Melillo

    (Engineering Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A., Piazzale dell’Agricoltura, 24, 00144 Rome, Italy)

  • Roberto Pratola

    (Engineering Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A., Piazzale dell’Agricoltura, 24, 00144 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

Social gamification systems have shown potential for promoting healthy lifestyles, but applying them to occupational settings faces unique design challenges. While occupational settings offer natural communities for social interaction, fairness issues due to heterogeneous personal goals and privacy concerns increase the difficulty of designing engaging games. We explored a two-level game-design, where the first level related to achieving personal goals and the second level was a privacy-protected social competition to maximize goal compliance among colleagues. The solution was strengthened by employing occupational physicians who personalized users’ goals and coached them remotely. The design was evaluated in a 5-month study with 53 employees from a Dutch university. Results suggested that the application helped half of the participants to improve their lifestyles, and most appreciated the role of the physician in goal-setting. However, long-term user engagement was undermined by the scalability-motivated design choice of one-way communication between employees and their physician. Implications for social gamification design in occupational health are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Chao Zhang & Pieter van Gorp & Maxine Derksen & Raoul Nuijten & Wijnand A. IJsselsteijn & Alberto Zanutto & Fabio Melillo & Roberto Pratola, 2021. "Promoting Occupational Health through Gamification and E-Coaching: A 5-Month User Engagement Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-17, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:2823-:d:514400
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Edith De Meester & Clara H. Mulder & Joos Droogleever Fortuijn, 2007. "Time Spent In Paid Work By Women And Men In Urban And Less Urban Contexts In The Netherlands," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 98(5), pages 585-602, December.
    3. Hausman, Jerry A & Wise, David A, 1979. "Attrition Bias in Experimental and Panel Data: The Gary Income Maintenance Experiment," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(2), pages 455-473, March.
    4. Aikaterini-Georgia Mavroeidi & Angeliki Kitsiou & Christos Kalloniatis & Stefanos Gritzalis, 2019. "Gamification vs. Privacy: Identifying and Analysing the Major Concerns," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sining Kong, 2022. "Examining the Effect of Self-Determined Appeal Organ Donation Messages and Respective Underlying Mechanism," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-17, August.

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