Motivation Enhancement in mHealth via Gamification

Abstract

The lack of therapy compliance (adherence) is an already well-studied phenomenon in the health sector. It is known that numerous factors can influence regular medication intake. A promising approach for increasing therapy compliance are patient-related factors. In order to increase motivation, Gamification-based approaches have already been selectively tested here. However, the number of mHealth applications using the potential of Gamification in this context in an effective way is limited so far. Our research therefore focuses on game-design-elements (GDE) that are particularly suitable to increase motivation in the mHealth sector. This includes a well-founded analysis of existing studies and applications with the identification of potential Gamification approaches. A novelty here is the use of comprehensive GDEs to increase motivation in the mHealth area. The result is a classification of GDEs according to their effectiveness and a conceptual design on how to apply them effectively, which is implemented prototypically in a progressive WebApp. Finally, the suitability of our approach for generating motivation was assessed through a user survey. The results show a significant influence on the use of GDEs on the development of Flow, and thus on motivation. Differences in the isolated effect of individual game design elements could not be proven.

Type
Publication
IARIA

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