Health Behavior Change Support Systems as a research discipline; A viewpoint. 2016

Saskia M Kelders, and Harri Oinas-Kukkonen, and Anssi Oörni, and Julia E W C van Gemert-Pijnen
University of Twente, Centre for eHealth and Wellbeing Research, Department of Psychology, Health and Technology, Enschede, The Netherlands. Electronic address: s.m.kelders@utwente.nl.

As research on Health Behavior Change Support Systems (HBCSS) proliferates, meaningful management of the different findings is becoming a challenge. We argue that for the field to evolve, it is important to establish the study of HBCSSs as an independent research area, which means that instead of only applying theories from related disciplines to HBCSSs, we need to significantly extend and adapt these theories, or develop new theories, to explain the phenomena that are encountered. Current research in HBCSSs is carried out in different disciplines, with a different approach in each of these disciplines. However, both the CeHRes roadmap and the Persuasive System Design Model show that HBCSSs are complex and the development and evaluation of these systems need to deal with this complexity to be successful. Therefore, an integrative approach is needed to study the combination of content, system, and context. Although research into the separate areas has yielded important findings that are discussed in this paper, we argue that an integrated approach of HBCSSs is useful. We discuss two examples to show how a truly integrative approach can be utilized to enhance the field involving tailoring, personalization, and support. In conclusion we present three practical and relatively easy-to-implement recommendations for researchers who want to contribute to this discipline: Avoid the black box, be specific about the terms used, and look past the borders of one's own discipline.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D003142 Communication The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups. Miscommunication,Misinformation,Social Communication,Communication Programs,Communications Personnel,Personal Communication,Communication Program,Communication, Personal,Communication, Social,Communications, Social,Miscommunications,Misinformations,Personnel, Communications,Program, Communication,Programs, Communication,Social Communications
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012944 Social Support Support systems that provide assistance and encouragement to individuals with physical or emotional disabilities in order that they may better cope. Informal social support is usually provided by friends, relatives, or peers, while formal assistance such as COMMUNITY SUPPORT is provided by churches, groups, etc. Perceived Social Support,Social Care,Online Social Support,Care, Social,Online Social Supports,Perceived Social Supports,Social Support, Online,Social Support, Perceived,Social Supports, Online,Social Supports, Perceived,Support, Online Social,Support, Perceived Social,Support, Social,Supports, Perceived Social
D015438 Health Behavior Combination of HEALTH KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, PRACTICE which underlie actions taken by individuals regarding their health. Health-Related Behavior,Behavior, Health,Behavior, Health-Related,Behaviors, Health,Behaviors, Health-Related,Health Behaviors,Health Related Behavior,Health-Related Behaviors
D035843 Biomedical Research Research that involves the application of the natural sciences, especially biology and physiology, to medicine. Medical Research,Experimental Medicine,Investigational Medicine,Investigative Medicine,Research, Biomedical,Research, Medical,Medicine, Experimental,Medicine, Investigational,Medicine, Investigative

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