“In my doctorate thesis, I will concentrate on the issue of how to achieve sustainable engagement with physiolytics in a work environment. I will particularly focus on IT-enabled health prevention programs in the public administration. The public sector, as the largest Swiss employer, could truly benefit from this kind of corporate wellness programs and help their employees improving their health and well-being. Public administrations (unlike big corporations) might also not possess necessary financial resources to afford occupational health specialists; moreover, they gather many different departments with diverse sizes and disciplinary backgrounds, requiring a sustainable approach that is able to insert itself in both small/large groups and that can be applied to employees in distinct professional fields. In any case, one thing is certain: only through a sustained and effective use, public administrations will be able to experience (if at all) some positive outcomes from IT-enabled health prevention.
This is also very challenging: various studies have already investigated different mechanisms linked to acceptance of Information Technology and intention of use. However, existing models appear to lack of adequate explanations about sustained use, as it’s generally integrated in a fully rational process; but, when it comes to health and well-being, humans might be irrational (e.g. smoking). Furthermore, usage of IT devices and services tend to diminish with time. This concretely means that planned interventions might be considered (after the implementation of such technology) in order to secure a sustainable engagement.
Hence, and as a summa of all the development above, the driving force of my research will be to respond to this main interrogation: how can we encourage public administrators to participate in and make use of physiolytics?”