Habit Formation in Wearable Activity Tracker Use Among Older Adults: Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Wearable activity trackers are popular devices used to motivate behavior change. Wearable activity trackers are especially beneficial for encouraging light physical activity such as walking, which is an ideal behavior for older adults or individuals who cannot be physically active at moderate and vigorous levels. A common problem is that people do not continue to use these wearable devices, with initial behavioral change gains eroding as people disengage. Limited research is available regarding the continued use of wearable activity trackers. The habit formation literature may provide insights into the long-term use of wearables and other health informatics devices.

Objective: This study aims to uncover the mechanism underlying the long-term continued use of wearable devices among older adults through the theoretical lens of habit formation.

Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 participants who were aged 65 years or older and had used wearable activity trackers for more than 6 months to understand their experiences and the strategies they employed to support continued use.

Results: Thematic analysis of data revealed 8 themes related to habit formation, including aspects in initiation and goal setting, use of contextual cues, action planning, and coping planning. Long-term users tended to have meaningful initiation of wearable activity trackers. They usually started with a small behavioral change goal and gradually increased it. They used consistent time and locational cues to make the use of wearable activity trackers routine. Long-term users also used creative contextual cues and reminders to facilitate action planning, engaged in coping planning to deal with anticipated problems, and had a positive mindset and inventive strategies for managing unfulfillment and lapses.

Conclusions: The results of this qualitative study of long-term users of wearable activity trackers suggest specific ways to enhance long-term habit formation among older adults. These best practices by long-term users can inform the future design of technology-based behavior interventions.

Keywords: action planning; activity trackers; continued use; coping planning; fitness trackers; habits; health behavior; mHealth; mobile phone; older adults.