A model for computer-tailored motivational message generation for a healthy lifestyle management information system

The healthcare industry in the United States is going through major challenges in terms of financial and human resources. One of the most preferred ways to address this issue is to develop effective prevention systems so that the people can prevent diseases and so minimize the use of the medical system. Preventing diseases requires people to adopt healthy lifestyles. The advances in pervasive technology provide promising opportunity in developing such systems. Specifically, sending "just-in-time" motivational messages to help people make right health related decision has been suggested as an emerging field of research. The goal of this study was three fold: (1) to develop a framework to design a healthy lifestyle management information systems (HLMIS), (2) to understand how different individuals would respond to "just-in-time" motivational messages, and (3) to explore how the persuasiveness of "just-in-time" motivational messages can be enhanced.; A framework called an HLMIS was developed to guide the design of an information system that can help people adhere to a healthy lifestyle. Delivering "just-in-time motivational messages that is one of the building boxes of an HLMIS poses a big challenge with regard to user response to the messages. The study developed a model based on the existing behavioral theories and the expert opinions to understand how individuals with different personal and social characteristics can respond to the messages with a focus on the weight control domain. A survey was conducted using the model. The results revealed several factors that can predict the response to the messages. Further, I explored the persuasiveness of the "just-in-time" messages by considering the five elements (a source, a channel, a message, a receiver, and a destination) of the communication process. The study found that the participants did not consider the messages on cell phones as credible as the phone calls from healthcare experts. Besides, the participants were less likely to respond to the messages that ask the users to take actions requiring significant effort or negatively enforcing them to take health related actions. Alternatively, they were more likely to respond to the messages asking for simple activities or suggesting equivalent healthy alternatives.