Promoting Physical Activity in Urban Bangladesh through Mobile Technology

Project Summary 

The project developed and tested the feasibility of promoting physical activity among older adults through mobile voice messages in urban Bangladesh (Faridpur town). It built on earlier experiences of developing, implementing and evaluating an mHealth intervention (voice messages, dramas and songs) to promote physical activity in rural areas.

One-minute voice messages targeting older adults were developed through first conducting formative research to look at the needs of an urban population and how it differs to rural Bangladesh, and second applying behavioural theory to the messages. Twelve messages were developed, recorded and sent to 150 participants over 4 weeks.

The participants for feedback on the messages through surveys and interviews. We hope to use the messages in future projects to more rigorously test their effectiveness in changing behaviour.

Key Project Information

Dates: September 2018 – February 2019

Principal Investigator: Hannah Jennings

Partner: Diabetes Association Bangladesh

Location: Bangladesh

Funding: EPSRC