The Effectiveness of Encouraging Habilitation in Adults with Wearable Activity Trackers

The purpose of this study was to determine whether wearable activity trackers are effective tools to promote change in adult users. Individuals who wear activity trackers and also have been or are currently in physical therapy were interviewed to determine if the tracker and its features of goal setting, graphs, tracking mechanisms, and challenges motivated them to be more physically active, lose weight, or help them transition into a regular physical activity program that their physical therapist promoted. The three psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness were assessed in the interviews to determine if the tracker met these needs. The individual’s use of different features on the tracker and how they use it daily was also assessed to determine how their motivation has changed since using the tracker. The information was used to determine if the tracker was an effective tool that helped the individual make a change in their level of physical activity