MyHabeats

MyHabeats addresses the problem of adherence to post obesity surgery guidelines regarding successful weight loss maintenance. It addresses this problem both from a patient and a health care practicioner (HCP) perspective.  
For whom is then MyHabeats developed? 
• For post-obesity surgery patients – as a self-management tool to achieve adherence to weight management treatment (incl. eating & other lifestyle behavior changes) 
• For obesity surgeons (and their team of other HCPs) – as a blended-care tool to increase their patients’ adherence to post-surgery guidelines 
What are the features of MyHabeats that facilitate patient adherence to weight management treatment? 
 
• Digital companion: reminds/encourages users about behavioral goals – personal data sharing with a digital character more comfortable compared to a real person – not a “coach” or “advisor”, previously experienced training examples • Peer support: online community with other patients (sharing via Facebook & Instagram)  • 6-meal goal (& extra): increase metabolic rate • Meal reminders: effective in weight management • 3-hour time gap between meals: increase metabolic rate  • 4-food categories in meal recording: balance nutrient intake  • Meal & food category overview: guide food choice in next meals – balance meal & nutrient intake • Areas of behavior (for additional lifestyle changes) targeted and why: Physical activity: maximizes weight loss – enhances emotional well-being  o Self-control skills: behavioral strategies to resist tempting (unhealthy) foods and eat healthier – maximizes feeling of control over one’s behavior o Interpersonal relationships: engagement in actions to improve and/or develop (new) relationships – enhances emotional well-being o Body image: actions increasing satisfaction with body image - enhances emotional wellbeing 
 
• Gaming elements  o 2 stages in app use: Stage 1 for building healthier eating habits - Stage 2 for further lifestyle changes  o Reward with points for meal recording (1 meal = 1 point) - challenge to collect 180 points o Point collection game to motivate frequent meals: point per meal registered but added on total point number only after recording 4 meals (in a day) o Total point number & minimum meal requirement (i.e. 4 meals) to motivate habit building: 180 points expected to be collected in 45 days –> time sufficient for new habit building (however, avoid time frames when arguing about habit building) o Challenge for action (20 actions/60 days) to motivate engagement in lifestyle changes 
 
• User freedom o Choice in behavior tracking: after Stage 1, users free to continue with Stage 2 only or in parallel with Stage 1 (re-do Stage 1) o Choice of meal reminder mode in Stage 1 o Choice of digital companion gender o Choice of own actions in Stage 2 (support choice with examples/tips) o Choice of preferred date for action (selecting a date makes an action more concrete -> increases likelihood of performing the action) 
 
• Goal progress tracking: overview of personal data - easy access to daily and past (up to 7 past days