Conceptual Model for Behaviour Change Progress – Instrument in Design Processes for Behaviour Change Systems

Abstract

The aim of the work presented in this article was to develop a conceptual model for behavior change progress, which could be used for automated assessment of reasons for progress or non-progress. The model was developed based on theories for behavior change, and evaluated by domain experts. The information models of two prototype systems of a digital coach under development for preventing cardio-vascular diseases and stress respectively, were evaluated by comparing the content of the prototypes with concepts in the model. The conceptual model was found useful as instrument to evaluate to what extent the prototypes are based in theories for behavior change, whether some vital information is missing, and to identify mechanisms for short and long time goal setting. Moreover, the connection between the ontology underpinning the prototypes and the conceptual model could be defined. Future work includes the integration of the conceptual model to function as a meta-ontology, which could be used for capturing causal relationships between information collected by the applications at baseline and at runtime.

Argument-based human–AI collaboration for supporting behavior change to improve health

“…The person-tailored argumentation-based decision-support system developed as a part of this research rests on complementary theoretical frameworks developed within different fields of research to encompass the human-centric approach: (i) on human activity (Kaptelinin and Nardi, 2006 ; Lindgren and Weck, 2022 ), (ii) motivation and behavior change (Ryan and Deci, 2000 ; Prochaska et al, 2015 ; Lindgren and Weck, 2021 ), (iii) argumentation theory (Walton and Krabbe, 1995 ; Bench-Capon, 2002 ; Walton et al, 2008 ), and (iv) formal argument-based dialogues for reasoning about health (Atkinson et al, 2006 ; Lindgren et al, 2020 ; Guerrero and Lindgren, 2021a , b ).…”

“…The connection between needs, long-term goals, and short-term goals was explored by Lindgren and Weck ( 2022 ), and a model of activity encompassing the building blocks for arguments across the levels of activity was defined. Furthermore, to identify the factors affecting an individual's motivation to change behavior, a model of the behavior change progress was built based on the most influential theories on motivation and behavior change (Lindgren and Weck, 2021 ). These two models build the basis for a user model, or ToM, for the digital companion to use in dialogues with the individual in this study.…”