Persuasive Technologies for Health

Persuasive technologies for health and health promotion encompass a variety of mHealth (mobile health) and e-health (electronic health) methodologies, including technology-assisted self-monitoring strategies and considerations, with the purpose of influencing health behaviors.

Self-monitoring is the skill with which individuals monitor and record specific aspects of a behavior in order to change or control that behavior. It is a self-regulatory process related to goal-setting, stimulus control, and other skills that assist individuals in modifying their behaviors. Self-monitoring is considered a core component of behavior change interventions for a variety of health-related targets including physical activity, dietary change, weight management, diabetes management, addictive behaviors, and medication compliance, to name just a few. Traditionally, self-monitoring consisted primarily of diary-based, paper and pencil methods and was often perceived as tedious, ...