Designing Group Activity Metrics for Social Interaction and Walking Adherence: A Social Prototyping Study Among Indian Older Adults.

Paper Title

Designing Group Activity Metrics for Social Interaction and Walking Adherence: A Social Prototyping Study Among Indian Older Adults

Publication Info

• Topic area: Socially embedded health technologies for older adults
• Keywords: Group Activity Metrics, walking adherence, older adults, social interaction, Indian context, Social Cognitive Theory, health technologies, social prototyping, physical activity, community health

Background and Problem

• Problem / challenge: Older adults face challenges in maintaining adherence to physical activity routines, with existing fitness technologies often focusing on competitive or individualistic features that may not align with their preferences for trusted, small-group interactions.
• Significance: Physical activity is critical for healthy ageing, reducing risks of chronic diseases and improving mental health. Enhancing adherence through culturally and socially relevant interventions can significantly improve quality of life for older adults.
• Motivation and related work: Prior research highlights the role of social interactions in sustaining physical activity, but most studies focus on developed countries or competitive networks. Limited work has explored how trusted, small-group interactions can support adherence among older adults in culturally specific contexts like India. This paper addresses these gaps by introducing and evaluating Group Activity Metrics (GAMs).

Solution

• Proposed approach: Group Activity Metrics (GAMs) – visual representations of physical activity data designed to highlight group achievements, collaboration, and personal progress within trusted, small social groups.
• Novelty:
  1. Introduces GAMs as a theory-informed design construct operationalising Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) for older adults.
  2. Provides empirical insights into the role of small-group social interactions in walking adherence among Indian older adults.
  3. Demonstrates social prototyping as a methodological approach for evaluating socially embedded health technologies.
• Procedure and key techniques:
  • Study 1: Conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 22 Indian older adults to understand social interactions and physical activity routines.
  • Study 2: Deployed GAMs in two walking groups (one in-person, one virtual) using WhatsApp for sharing visualisations and fostering discussions. Evaluated social responses through qualitative descriptive analysis.

Results

• Concrete findings:
  • GAMs sparked curiosity and motivated participants without inducing competition.
  • Group challenges (e.g., walking 44 km collectively) fostered accountability and engagement.
  • Participants in the virtual group increased their step counts after introducing individual goals (mean steps rose from 5,814 to 7,495).
  • Participants valued culturally grounded narratives (e.g., framing challenges as a tirtha yatra).
  • Social reinforcement through WhatsApp facilitated peer support and accountability.
• Advantage over baselines: GAMs shifted focus from individual competition to collaborative and culturally meaningful group progress, addressing older adults’ preferences for trusted social settings.
• Experiments / evaluation:
  • Two groups: an in-person walking group (5 participants) and a virtual group (4 participants).
  • GAMs visualisations included step comparisons, goal tracking, and collaborative challenges.
  • Data shared via WhatsApp; qualitative feedback collected through post-deployment interviews.
• Limitations and future work:
  • Short deployment period limits insights into long-term adherence.
  • Findings may not generalise beyond urban, middle-class Indian older adults.
  • Moderator presence may have influenced engagement; future studies should explore automated facilitation and diverse populations.

Summary

This study introduces Group Activity Metrics (GAMs), a design construct grounded in Social Cognitive Theory, to support walking adherence among Indian older adults through trusted, small-group interactions. Evaluated via social prototyping, GAMs fostered social engagement, accountability, and motivation through culturally meaningful visualisations and WhatsApp-based reinforcement. Results highlight the importance of balancing comparison with collaboration, providing clear benchmarks, and incorporating human facilitation. While limited to short-term deployments, this work lays the foundation for scalable, socially embedded health technologies that promote physical activity and social connection in diverse cultural contexts.