Understanding How eHealth Coaches Tailor Support For Weight Loss: Towards the Design of Person-Centered Coaching Systems

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingsChapterpeer-review

Abstract

eHealth coaching is a promising approach for delivering effective, person-centered, digital health interventions. Yet, the way eHealth coaches 'tailor' interventions using technology is currently unclear. This study aims to understand how eHealth coaches tailor support to clients seeking to lose weight. Nine in-depth interviews with eHealth coaches were conducted. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis, deriving three themes: 'Understanding the client,' 'Adapting Support,' and 'Navigating challenges.' Coaches used both assessment tools and their growing relationship to understand client's needs. Coaches adapted the pace and nature of educational content, utilized their clients' preferred technologies, and adopted different personas to meet the needs of each individual. Providing tailored support also presented challenges for eHealth coaches, with technology eroding personal and professional boundaries. Our work interrogates what it means to 'tailor' support, through exploring coaching as a humanistic approach to behaviour change, with implications for the design of person-centered digital coaching interventions/systems.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCHI 2022 - Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
ISBN (Electronic)9781450391573
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Apr 2022
Externally publishedYes
Event2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2022 - New Orleans, United States
Duration: 30 Apr 20225 May 2022

Publication series

NameConference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Conference

Conference2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2022
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityNew Orleans
Period30/04/225/05/22

Keywords

  • Behavior Change
  • Human computer interaction (HCI)
  • Human-centered computing
  • Interview
  • Personalization

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