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Fostering Youth Wellbeing Through mHealth Apps: Embracing Physical Activity for a Healthier Lifestyle

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Transfer, Diffusion and Adoption of Next-Generation Digital Technologies (TDIT 2023)

Part of the book series: IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology ((IFIPAICT,volume 698))

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Abstract

In recent years, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has noted an increase in the number of young individuals suffering from Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). In addition, NCDs are becoming more common among South African young people. The high rate of smartphone usage in South Africa provides an opportunity to develop mobile applications to encourage young people to embrace healthier lives. This study explored the possible use of mobile health applications to encourage youth to engage in healthy physical activity using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model as the theoretical lens. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 320 participants using convenient sampling. The findings revealed that the factors influencing youth’s adoption of mobile health applications that encourage healthy physical activity are facilitating conditions, social influence (SI), performance expectancy (PE), and effort expectancy (EE). Thus, mobile application-driven interventions that aim to encourage young people to be active should consider the constructs identified in this study that have a higher effect size.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Information Systems, University of Johannesburg, Bunting Road Campus, Auckland Park, Johannesburg, 2092, South Africa

    Patrick Ndayizigamiye & Kudakwashe Maguraushe

  2. Department of Information Systems and Technology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Durban, South Africa

    Nompumelelo C. W. Mtshali & Irene Govender

Authors
  1. Nompumelelo C. W. Mtshali
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  2. Patrick Ndayizigamiye
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  3. Irene Govender
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  4. Kudakwashe Maguraushe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patrick Ndayizigamiye .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. IIM Nagpur, Nagpur, India

    Sujeet K. Sharma

  2. Swansea University, Swansea, UK

    Yogesh K. Dwivedi

  3. IIM Nagpur, Nagpur, India

    Bhimaraya Metri

  4. University of Bradford, Bradford, UK

    Banita Lal

  5. Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK

    Amany Elbanna

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Mtshali, N.C.W., Ndayizigamiye, P., Govender, I., Maguraushe, K. (2024). Fostering Youth Wellbeing Through mHealth Apps: Embracing Physical Activity for a Healthier Lifestyle. In: Sharma, S.K., Dwivedi, Y.K., Metri, B., Lal, B., Elbanna, A. (eds) Transfer, Diffusion and Adoption of Next-Generation Digital Technologies. TDIT 2023. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 698. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50192-0_35

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50192-0_35

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-50191-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-50192-0

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