Flow and Grit by Design: Exploring Gamification in Facilitating Adherence to Swallowing Therapy

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation science
• Human-computer interaction
• Health psychology

Background:

• Swallowing therapy delivery faces challenges in accessing in-clinic services and patient adherence to home programs.
• Mobile health (mHealth) technologies offer potential solutions to improve therapy accessibility and adherence.
• While some mHealth benefits are clear, others, like enhancing treatment adherence, require further understanding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore psychological concepts that can be integrated into mHealth to improve adherence to swallowing therapy.
• To identify how principles of flow and grit can be applied in mHealth interventions for rehabilitation.

Main Methods:

• Review of psychological concepts related to adherence, specifically flow and grit.
• Discussion of how these concepts can be leveraged through mHealth design and gamification.

Main Results:

• Flow can be fostered by designing rehabilitation exercises as optimally challenging games that match patient ability.
• Grit can be supported by establishing routines and introducing variety through different game-based therapy experiences.
• mHealth, through gamification, can transform repetitive therapy tasks into engaging activities.

Conclusions:

• mHealth, incorporating gamification, has the potential to significantly improve engagement and adherence in swallowing therapy.
• Further scientific validation and outcome research are necessary to confirm the effectiveness of gamified mHealth apps in rehabilitation.