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Playing exergames may resemble doing conventional exercise and thus has the potential to enhance users’ health. However, no study has yet examined whether and how a need for exercise impacts users’ intention to continuously play exergames, i.e. continuance intention and its antecedents. We developed a model grounded in the uses and gratifications theory (UGT) to address this issue.

We recruited 583 participants to play exergames and collected their psychological responses and physical information. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses.

We found that health consciousness and perceived exercise benefits are positively related to a need for exercise, which is, in turn, positively related to continuance intention. Moreover, perceived exergame similarity with exercise strengthens the positive link between the need for exercise and continuance intention.

This is the first study using the UGT to explain the underlying mechanism linking health consciousness to continuance intention in the playing of exergames. In addition, we introduced the need for exercise as a novel construct in this study. Our findings provide insights to managers on incorporating health-related features into their exergame products to motivate users' engagement in playing exergames.

This article highlights the value of close co‐ operation and understanding between those inthe public, private and voluntary sectors who have the responsibility for planning and responding to major incidents. Multi‐agency response and co‐operation can be improved through joint planning and exercises which serve to validate plans, enable staff to familiarise themselves with the arrangements and assist in training. The whole plan or just part of it may be exercised according to need, and may involve participation by one or more agencies. It has to be decided who needs to be exercised and which type of exercise is appropriate, for example paper feed, table‐top, communications‐simulated or live. When staging exercise, it is important to plan, conduct and supervise them in a way which will ensure maximum benefit to all participants, enhance response safely and enable weaknesses in the plans to be revealed and corrected.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how training or exercises are assessed in local government emergency management organisations.

An investigative review of the resources available to emergency managers across North America and within New Zealand, for the evaluation and monitoring of emergency management training and exercises was conducted. This was then compared with results from a questionnaire based survey of 48 local government organisations in Canada, USA, and New Zealand. A combination of closed and open ended questions was used, enabling qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Each organisation's training program, and their assessment of this training is unique. The monitoring and evaluation aspect of training has been overlooked in some organisations. In addition, those that are using assessment methods are operating in blind faith that these methods are giving an accurate assessment of their training. This study demonstrates that it is largely unknown how effective the training efforts of local government organisations are.

Further study inspired by this paper will provide a clearer picture of the evaluation of and monitoring of emergency management training programs. These results highlight that organisations need to move away from an ad hoc approach to training design and evaluation, towards a more sophisticated and evidence‐based approach to training needs analysis, design, and evaluation if they are to maximise the benefits of this training.

This study is the first investigation to the authors’ knowledge into the current use of diverse emergency management training for a range of local government emergency offices, and how this training impacts the functioning of the organisation's emergency operations centre during a crisis.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the psychological constructs volition and motivation influence successful and unsuccessful weight maintainers’ experiences during the difficult period following an intensive lifestyle intervention.

Post lifestyle intervention semi-structured interviews with 11 successful and four unsuccessful weight maintainers were conducted.

The eight themes that emerged and the differences between successful and unsuccessful maintainers were theoretically explained applying the self-determination theory (motivation) and the personal systems interaction (volition).

The study validates and coheres with previous findings on the importance of self-regulation and autonomous motivation for weight loss maintenance. Additionally, the study’s findings expand the literature by explaining both empirically and theoretically how the quality of motivation concerning an activity influences the level of volitional intensity needed when wanting to either engage in goal oriented or refrain from goal opposing activities.

Developing effective obesity interventions has become essential, as obesity is a growing health threat in most countries in the world. However, there is a gap in the literature with regards to qualitative psychological studies with a clear theoretical framework informing intervention development.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a national foodborne emergency functional exercise conducted in 2013 by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (NFSA), and focusses on how elements of the exercise: organization, scenario and evaluation contributed to learning effect to the organization.

In total, 364 NFSA employees representing all offices and organization levels and representatives from cooperating governmental and business organizations participated. Scenario encompassed a salmonellosis outbreak traced to nationally distributed cured salmon seasoned with non-irradiated imported dill contaminated with Salmonella. Crisis communication was included. Exercise evaluation included questionnaires to participants, monitors reports and interviews with NFSA key personnel. Results were evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively.

Participants and monitors judged the scenario as realistic and relevant and considered the exercise to have provided good learning to the NFSA. Some insufficiencies of log system, certain lacks of compliance with emergency procedures and some inconsistencies in crisis communication were reported. Following a broad evaluation process, the NFSA has carried out comprehensive revisions of contingency plans and procedures, conveyed the exercise learnings into an ongoing planning for reorganization, and has identified goals and methods for contingency training.

Scenario, organization, methods for evaluation and assessments of learning effect may be applicable for similar organizations.

This was the largest foodborne outbreak exercise ever conducted in Norway and among the few ones ever reported in scientific journals.

The purpose of this paper is to establish the effects of service quality of sports centers on customer loyalty and intention to adhere to exercise.

In total, 500 questionnaires were distributed to five sports centers located in the city of Seoul, of which 472 were returned and used in the data analysis. The collected data were subjected to frequency analysis, exploratory factor analysis, a reliability test, and structural equation model analysis using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 18.0.

The results show that, first, service quality, comprising the two factors of the facilities of sports centers and instructors, positively influences customer loyalty. Second, the service quality of sports centers positively influences the intention to adhere to exercise, and, third, so does customer loyalty.

Management needs to make more efforts to strengthen service quality, comprising facilities and instructors, in order to increase customer loyalty, represented by the sense of closeness with and attachment of customers using sports centers, as well as to increase the need for exercise.

Previous studies on the service quality of sports centers have been limited to customer satisfaction, customer trust, reuse intention, recommendations to others, consumption behavior, and relationship commitment. Since the research on the direct relationship between service quality of sports centers and exercise adherence is still limited, this study provides data and implications relevant to the management of sports centers by investigating the relationship among service quality of sports centers, customer loyalty, and intention to adhere to exercise.

The paper aims to examine benchmarking challenges among Nigerian Facilities management (FM) practitioners.

Data collection was through self-administered questionnaires sent to 120 FM organizations in Lagos metropolis, 50 in Abuja and 15 in Port Harcourt. Also, interviews were conducted on six facilities managers to ascertain challenges faced by organizations that use best practice benchmarking. The survey achieved a total response rate of 74 per cent in Lagos, 66 per cent in Abuja and 93 per cent in Port Harcourt, respectively. Grand mean scores and relative importance index were used to ascertain ranking of the challenges. One-way analysis of variance and t-test were used to establish whether organizations’ characteristics bring about significant differences in the types of benchmarking challenges encountered.

Overall, the top four challenges of benchmarking were “unwillingness of employees to change”, “inadequate understanding of the exercise of benchmarking”, “inadequate access to data from other organizations” and “poor execution of-the benchmarking exercise”. Also, FM organization location result in a significant difference in benchmarking challenges.

The implication of the study is that it will assist in identifying impediments to benchmarking and barriers faced during benchmarking and, thus, enable recommendations to be made to minimize such challenges.

There are limited empirical studies on the problems of benchmarking in developing countries.

Physical activity is increasingly recognised as critical to improving physical and mental health (MH). Understanding the education and training requirements of exercise professionals will support better integration of these emerging MH professionals within the multidisciplinary MH team. The purpose of this study was to determine the exposure to, knowledge and attitudes of final year exercise physiology students towards people with mental illness (MI).

Student exposure to and knowledge and attitudes of people living with MH were assessed via a 24-item online questionnaire.

In total, n = 63 out of 78 eligible students participated (81%). Of the participants, 81% (n = 51) showed a favourable attitude towards people with MI and 68% (n = 43) of participants had good knowledge of topics relating to MI. Significant correlations existed between the total score for attitude and any exposure to MH issues and having undertaken placement as part of university training and knowledge and total scores. Further training and education are needed to better equip exercise physiology graduates to work with people with MI.

This is the first study to examine the attitudes and knowledge of exercise physiology students towards people living with MI and their association with exposure to MI. Given the growing number of exercise professionals being integrated into multidisciplinary MH teams, this study may help to direct the delivery of associated training and education services.

Controlling partner opportunism in public-private partnership (PPP) requires effective adaptation of governance mechanisms over life-cycle. This paper proposes a process framework of effective governance adaptation for controlling partner opportunism in case of PPP.

Using in-depth interview data and extensive secondary data, a comparative case analysis of governance adaptation for controlling partner opportunism in two provinces in the “National Health Insurance Program” in India was conducted. The study uses contextual analysis and critical incident technique to identify the opportunistic behaviors and use processing tracing to map the adaptation of governance mechanisms for effective control of partner opportunism.

The paper makes several propositions and proposes a three-stage framework for effective governance adaptation for controlling partner opportunism. The study proposes that governance adaptation begins with the iterative process of discovering governance needs, followed by the dynamic interaction between governance mechanisms shaping the adaptation process. The process ends with two-dimensional alignment–alignment of partner's goal and alignment of governance mix with governance needs resulting in effective governance.

The paper contributes to the existing debates on governance mix and its effectiveness in PPP by proposing two-dimensional alignment for optimal governance adaptation leading to effective PPP governance.

Existing research presents contradictory findings about the effectiveness of governance mechanisms to control partner opportunism. The proposed process-view of governance adaptations tries to address this conundrum to some extent.

The purpose of this paper is to describe healthy lifestyle initiatives in a secure psychiatric facility and the evidence base for these interventions.

Following a detailed review of the literature on the physical health of psychiatric inpatients, a trans-diagnostic approach to behaviour change is advocated in selected areas.

Lifestyle strategy proposals were produced that incorporate the principle of “libertarian paternalism” in making changes to eating and exercise behaviour; a programme of motivational and reinforcement strategies; and facility-specific environmental restructuring to include maximising the therapeutic use of green space.

Instituting described changes needs to be accompanied by a programme of evaluation to assess intervention-specific physical health changes.

This paper provides a synthesis of findings in key areas of behaviour change relevant to improving the physical health of psychiatric patients in secure settings. It is a co-ordinated and interlinked lifestyle strategy that has applicability to similar services.