Applying Behavior Change Theories For A Cardiac Rehabilitation Application

Telemonitoring and tele-rehabilitation show tremendous potential to be effective approaches for secondary prevention and rehabilitation in heart patients, such as Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) patients. However, studies show a gradual decline of interest, lack of motivation and resistance to modify behavioral patterns among patients over a period of time, resulting in a lack of therapy adherence. Adopting persuasive technology in tele-rehabilitation applications contributes to solve these issues. In this paper, we highlight various theoretical frameworks related to persuasion, which aid in designing mobile applications supporting long-term behavior change and keeping patients motivated for the tele-rehabilitation program. Introduction Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) patients are initiated into a rehabilitation program at hospitals or specialized centers by medical staff and are informed about various risk factors and need for behavior change. However, geographical distance to rehabilitation centers, lack of motivation, psychological barriers and lack of time [3, 4] lead to decline in interest, motivation and a resistance to change behavioral habits [1, 2]. To overcome such setbacks, medical research has Copyright statement Supraja Sankaran Hasselt University-tUL-iMinds Expertise Centre for Digital Media