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On Supplementing 'Foot in the Door' Incentives for eHealth Program Engagement
- Source :
- Journal of Medical Internet Research, Vol 16, Iss 7, p e179 (2014)
- Publication Year :
- 2014
- Publisher :
- JMIR Publications, 2014.
-
Abstract
- Financial health incentives, such as paying people to lose weight, are being widely implemented by Western nations and large corporations. A growing number of studies have tested the impact of incentives on health behaviors, though few have evaluated the approach on a population-scale. In this issue of the Journal of Medical Internet Research, Liu et al add to the evidence-base by examining whether a single incentive can motivate enrollment and engagement in a preventive eHealth program in a sample of 142,726 Canadian adults. While the incentives increased enrollment significantly (by a factor of about 28), a very high level of program attrition was noted (90%). The “foot in the door” incentive technique employed was insufficient; enrollees received incentives for signing-up for, but not for engaging with, the eHealth program. To supplement this technique and drive sustained behavior change, several theoretically- and empirically-based strategies are proposed. Specifically, incentives indexed to behavioral achievements over time are highlighted as one approach to boost engagement in this population in the future.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14388871
- Volume :
- 16
- Issue :
- 7
- Database :
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- Journal :
- Journal of Medical Internet Research
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsdoj.11577a1ec0dd4ff8bca02972cd65d840
- Document Type :
- article
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.3701