Gamification of Older Adults’ Physical Activity: An Eight-Week Study

Kappen, Dennis L.; Mirza-Babaei, Pejman; Nacke, Lennart E.

doi:10.24251/hicss.2018.149

Cited by 34 publications

(35 citation statements)

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“…Pedometers was used as a non-gamified second type of PA intervention (Kappen, 2017;Kappen et al, 2019). We acknowledge that our prior publication (Kappen et al, 2018) was presented as a summary paper of the same mixed-method study which incorporated quantitative measures and collected interview data over an 8week period. GT method was used to analyse the interview data in our prior publication (Kappen et al, 2018) which focused on summarizing the quantitative and qualitative data.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While research has explored older adults PA and motivation, to the best of our knowledge, there is limited research with the application of gamification elements or motivational affordances over longer durations. Prior analysis of interview data from the 8-week study using grounded theory (GT) resulted in A Theory of Motivational Affordances for Older Adults' (Kappen et al, 2018). This theory posited the relevance of intrinsic, extrinsic and feedback affordances to facilitate PA in older adults to sustain engagement in PA over longer periods of time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This theory posited the relevance of intrinsic, extrinsic and feedback affordances to facilitate PA in older adults to sustain engagement in PA over longer periods of time. Customization and personalization in the context of the design of PA technology relate to the system to be designed (tailored) to suit the agerelated infirmities of older adults mirrored with their abilities and the flexibility of the system to match their short-term and long-term PA goals, respectively (Kappen, 2017;Kappen et al, 2018Kappen et al, , 2019. However, in order to identify intrinsic, extrinsic and feedback gamification elements or motivational affordances) specific to older adults PA, we used the findings from GT as a framework to develop a codebook and re-analyse the interview data using thematic analysis (TA).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Technology Facilitates Physical Activity Through Gamification: A Thematic Analysis of an 8-Week Study

Kappen

Mirza-Babaei

Nacke

2020

Front. Comput. Sci.

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Gamification has enabled technology to facilitate behavior change through increasing the engagement and motivation of people in health and wellness domains. While research on physical activity (PA) and why older adults engage in PA exists, there are not many long-term studies on how gamification influences technology use and adherence to PA by older adults. We conducted a synchronous, 8-week, experimental study with older adults in the 50+ age group. Participants were randomized into three groups: Gamified technology, non-gamified technology and a control group. We conducted a weekly semi-structured interview with them focused on their PA motivations, setting up goals, accomplishments, fears or barriers, (immediate and long-term) rewards, and tracking in PA. Thematic analysis (TA) of the interview data showed these distinct variations in themes for the three groups over the 8-week period. This indicates that motivational affordances or gamification elements can be customized for older adults to suit their current health conditions and PA participation barriers. We define gamification design guidelines for PA motivation of older adults based on self-determination theory, setting up progressive goals, accomplishments to track PA quality, intangible rewards, and activity tracking.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Technology Facilitates Physical Activity Through Gamification: A Thematic Analysis of an 8-Week Study

Kappen

Mirza-Babaei

Nacke

2020

Front. Comput. Sci.

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“…Gamification refers to playful experiences that aim to motivate individuals in performing certain tasks by making them feel in control and aware of their abilities (Jessen 2016). Gamification is mostly used for behaviour change purposes (Cugelman 2013;Larsen et al 2013;Edwards et al 2016;Johnson et al 2016;Fleming et al 2017), not least for older adults to become more physically active (Barden et al 2013;Larsen et al 2013;Sailer et al 2014;Boot et al 2016;Skjaeret-Maroni et al 2016;Kappen et al 2018). Previous studies show that gamification of exercise engages participants and may lead to behavioural change in the short term (Larsen et al 2013;Edwards et al 2016;Skjaeret-Maroni et al 2016;Lee et al 2018).…”

Section: Playful Exercisementioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Playful Exercise of Older Adults on Balance and Physical Activity: a Randomized Controlled Trial

et al. 2020

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There is evidence that one of the most important approaches to improving the healthy ageing of older adults is for them to carry out daily physical activity. However, motivation to engage in physical activity is often low in old age. This study investigated the potential of engaging older adults in playful exercise to increase physical activity and balance. A randomised control trial (RCT) was performed with 26 independently living older adults (initially 38, but 12 were lost to illness or death during the course of the project), mean age 83.54 (SD: 7.12), 19 women. Participants were randomly allocated to intervention (n = 16) or control (n = 12) (originally 19 in each group). The intervention consisted of playful exercise on Moto tiles 6 * 2 min twice a week over 10 weeks, while control group participants engaged in normal daily activities. The intervention group participants improved functional balance (Berg's Balance Score) by an average of 5.02 points, and the control group by 2.58 points (p = 0.11). No between-group difference was observed in physical activities outside exercise sessions (p = 0.82). The difference in gain of balance as measured by BBS was below statistical significance, as a result of the sample size being too small. However, trial results suggest that older pre-frail and frail adults who engage in a moderate playful exercise programme over at least 10 weeks may potentially experience a modest gain in balance. Moreover, the playful exercise created a joyous social atmosphere among the participants who spontaneously remarked that the play sessions were much more fun than their standard light exercise programme of one hour twice a week. This motivational outcome is important for adherence to any exercise programme and indeed for general well-being.

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“…Shi and Cristea (2016) similarly investigated the gamification of e-learning with points, leaderboards, chat functions, and choice of lesson topics to pursue versus no gamification. Kappen, Mirza-Babaei, and Nacke (2018) gamified exercise for older adults and allowed for custom fitness goalsetting, achievements, and challenges compared to a group with just a pedometer and a group with no intervention. Ortiz-Rojas, Chiluiza, and Valcke (2017) measured reactions to a gamified computer programming course, offering badges and points for completed assignments as opposed to a control group with no gamification.…”

Section: Yearmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autonomy in Video Games and Gamification

Leventhal

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In the past decade, gamification (using game elements in non-gaming tasks to enhance motivation and engagement) has become a popular concept in many industries, but few studies have explored the principles under which it works. Self-determination theory suggests three psychological needs that gamification fulfills: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. Autonomy, a person's perception that they have the ability to act however they choose, has emerged as an important, yet less-studied aspect in gamification. Inclusion of autonomy in gamification should foster engagement, enjoyment, and better performance. An experiment inspired by the above was carried out in which a sample of college students (N = 57) played a video game called Super Mario Bros. Crossover with either the choice to customize the aesthetics of their character and background (autonomy-supportive) or no choice of aesthetics (non-supportive). It was hypothesized that conditions involving more choice would lead to higher perceived autonomy and performance, and that perceived autonomy would be positively correlated with engagement, enjoyment, and performance. The manipulation resulted in no significant difference in perceived autonomy or performance, and perceived autonomy was only significantly positively correlated with enjoyment. Prior Super Mario Bros. experience was also found to positively correlate with perceived autonomy in the autonomy-supportive condition. The choice of aesthetics does not appear to have been sufficiently strong enough to increase perceived autonomy in this context.

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Gamification of Older Adults’ Physical Activity: An Eight-Week Study

Abstract: Abstract

Cited by 34 publications

References 50 publications

Technology Facilitates Physical Activity Through Gamification: A Thematic Analysis of an 8-Week Study

Technology Facilitates Physical Activity Through Gamification: A Thematic Analysis of an 8-Week Study

Effects of Playful Exercise of Older Adults on Balance and Physical Activity: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Autonomy in Video Games and Gamification

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