Encouraging Seniors to Get Active: Implementing a Gamification Strategy on Television

People are intrinsically social, so regularly socialising with others is essential for a healthy life. Considering the successive scientific and technological developments that, by increasing the average life expectancy, have resulted in the gradual growth of the senior population, socialisation dynamics gain even greater importance. Generally, in old age, people see a reduction in their participation in social contexts or activities because, after retiring, they spend more time at home and inevitably lose an essential part of their frequent contact with others. To uphold seniors’ social connections, it is justified to develop and evaluate novel technological resources aimed at fostering closer interactions with others. Considering that older adults are the most frequent users of television and that the advent of interactive television allows access to a myriad of new features, the ProSeniorTV was developed, It is based on a gamified system for television capable of: i) proactively inform the user (via TV notifications) about events/social activities taking place in their municipality of residence; and ii) motivating and rewarding participation in these same events/activities, encouraging seniors to leave their homes and socialise. The developed system consists of various mini-games and a player ranking. The user can test their cognitive abilities (using the mini-games) and turn their participation in the events they are notified of into game points that will allow them to progress in the player ranking. Following the completion of the laboratory-based testing of the proposed system and the pilot test, it was determined that a gamified approach integrated into television could serve as a highly motivating factor for the third-party age to become more actively involved in social events and activities.