Framing the development of a gamified app for M-health and well-being

This paper outlines the rationale behind the development of a gamified mobile-application for the promotion of mental health and wellbeing of health professionals. The application aims to provide constantly available support for healthy lifestyles and to promote behavioural change. Indeed, while the health literacy of professionals may be high, their implementation of healthy behaviours is hindered by several factors (work schedules, workload, etc.) and requires changes that are difficult to put into practice for people who have to reconcile complex life and work demands. For these reasons, boosting awareness and motivation is necessary to initiate and maintain health-promoting behaviours. Design of the gamification for the application was based on the literature regarding both gamification for mental health and behavioural change to identify the most appropriate game elements to implement. In particular, the design was built on existing intersections of gamification principles and digital health-behaviour-change science. Motivational aspects were factored in, since the aim was to promote the internalisation and integration of the regulation of health behaviours. Such a complex and intertwined system of references was geared to ensure the robustness of the result and give the application the capacity to support long-term changes. The application was designed with a customised approach based on an initial assessment that the user undergoes at his/her first access, so as to provide an initial scaffolding that dwindles after conclusion of a predefined set of activities. This supports familiarisation with the app and the acquisition of increasing autonomy by the user. In this way, goals are initially set by the application and then autonomously. Progress displays and feedback prompt self-monitoring of behavioural outcomes, to increase the user’s sense of competence. A narrative metaphor was implemented to guide the user to progress in the app activities: in the guided paths the user follows the growth of a tree, from a seed in a greenhouse to flowering outdoors, in the open air the tree blossoms and bears fruit. The rewarding mechanics were aligned with the narrative so as to make them meaningful and informative.