title: myPace: an integrative health platform for supporting weight loss and maintenance behaviors.
abstract: Obesity is a major health concern caused by unhealthy eating behaviors. Digital weight loss interventions have adopted mobile technology primarily in order to support self-monitoring. However, many available apps are not designed as a part of dietetic practice; therefore, a distinct gap in the research exists relating to technology that supports the patient-practitioner relationship. This paper presents myPace, which is a complete weight loss and management system that is deployed via a smartphone and a PC. It connects dietitians and patients between face-to-face consultations and extends the relationship through patients' regular progress updates and dietitians' tailored and timely advice, for sustained behavior change. The prototype was developed from research into behavior change for weight loss, which furthermore was underpinned by theory and tenets of human support models, such as the supportive accountability framework. We report on an early-phase system design goals via a formative research process, which aimed to implement theoretical principles and match practical dietetic practice. To that end, only the clinical end user's perspective was sought through a coaching think-aloud protocol on the first iteration of the prototype and interviews with dietitians. Findings show that the system has many positive design features, but which require further development in order for the system to be fully acceptable within dietetic practice and motivate patient engagement.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harricharan
authors.forename: Dave
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.forename: Becky
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gilchrist
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Coughlan
mesh_terms: D040421:Cell Phone; D015930:Diet Records; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D063731:Mobile Applications; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000178:diet therapy*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D017010:Reminder Systems; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D018511:Systems Integration; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D015431:Weight Loss