Using a Lottery to Promote Physical Activity by Young Adults with Developmental Disabilities

Li et al. (2019) asked four young adults with developmental disabilities to wear a step counter.

Each day they set a personal step goal. If they met it, their name went into a hat for a small prize drawing.

No other rewards were given. The team tracked steps for several weeks to see if the lottery alone would make people walk more.

Three of the four adults quickly doubled or tripled their daily steps.

The fourth person walked a little more, but the jump was smaller.

All four said the lottery game was fun and fair.

Rotta et al. (2022) later used the same step-goal idea in a classroom. They added student choice and video modeling. Steps still went up, showing the lottery seed can grow into a bigger package.

McCullen et al. (2025) tested a money deposit contract with typical sedentary adults. Steps rose fast, but fell again when the contract ended. Li’s lottery gave cheaper, simpler gains, yet both studies warn you need a plan to keep activity high later.

Galbraith et al. (2017) ran a recess raffle for typical elementary kids. The raffle worked there too, so the lottery trick spans ages and diagnoses.

You can launch a walking program tomorrow with only a pedometer and a daily prize drawing. Start with one client, set a reachable step goal, and enter their name in a hat when they hit it. Watch the data for one week—if steps climb, keep the hat. If they slide, add extra supports like peer modeling or intermittent booster drawings. This cheap method fits group homes, day programs, or schools, and clients say it feels like a game, not therapy.