Wearable Technology as a Tool to Motivate Health Behaviour: A Case Study

Abstract

According to the Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits, work-related exposures are estimated to account for about 15% of all adult respiratory diseases. Today, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is the only way for workers to prevent disease. Nevertheless, its use is highly sparse. Currently, products and systems embedded with wearable technologies are able to protect, motivate and educate users. The authors then suggested the development of a novel wearable system following the beliefs that wearable technology can be persuasive and elicit a conscious behaviour towards the use of the PPEs by consequently improving their health condition. The authors here describe the result of a Transnational Research Project named “ P_O_D Plurisensorial Device to prevent Occupational Disease. ” The chapter describes the findings achieved so far, the research phase and the new wearable system conceived as a possible example of how to use wearable technology as a useful tool to influence behavioural change.