Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Mar 15, 2023
Date Accepted: Sep 19, 2023
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Personalized SMS coaching for behavior change: A mixed-methods design in a naturalistic setting
ABSTRACT
Background:
Digital health interventions (DHI) are considered affordable and scalable methods to support healthy lifestyle changes.
Objective:
This study explored the effectiveness of personalized SMS coaching for behavior change according to the COM-B model on a sample of physically inactive adults in a fitness organization in Sweden.
Methods:
The study used a mixed-methods design where the clients acted as their own controls. The participants were clients (n = 28) and fitness consultants (n = 12). Three types of data were collected: i) quantitative data at baseline and after the SMS intervention and the waitlist from the clients; ii) qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with the fitness consultants; and iii) pseudonymized SMS conversations between the fitness consultants and clients.
Results:
The overall results showed that personalized SMS were effective in supporting the clients’ behavior changes. The quantitative analysis showed how the clients’ capabilities (d = 0.50), opportunities (d = 0.43), and relationship to the fitness consultants (d = 0.51) improved during the SMS intervention in comparison to baseline. Further, the qualitative analysis revealed how personalized SMS added value to existing work methods (e.g., increasing continuity and flexibility), and how the relationship between the clients and fitness consultants changed during the intervention, which helped motivate the clients.
Conclusions:
A conclusion from this study is that personalized SMS is an effective method to support healthy behavior changes. The human connection that emerged in the study, needs to be further explored in order to fully understand the effectiveness of DHI.
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