JMIR Research Protocols

Motor neuron disease (MND), also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is a rapidly progressive neurological condition that requires complex multidisciplinary care. Within the United Kingdom, specialist centers provide expert interventions, while day-to-day support often relies on local nonspecialist community health and social care professionals. This is due to the distance between people’s homes and specialist centers, as well as the availability of specialist health and social care professionals. This can lead to fragmented communication and emotional, physical, and financial burdens, and it can be time-consuming for people living with MND, their carers, and the health care professionals involved in their care. Despite the recognized need for better care coordination, it remains inadequate in practice, with a current lack of specific evidence-based interventions for achieving this.

Malaysia is a multicultural country with the main ethnic groups being Malays, Chinese, and Indians. This diversity creates a rich food culture with distinct dishes, cooking styles, and portion sizes, making dietary assessment challenging. Intake24 is a web-based 24-hour dietary recall (24hDR) system that automates data collection, reduces recall bias, and saves time. It supports self-reporting of the previous day’s food and beverage intake using structured prompts, searchable food lists, portion-size images, and linked food composition data. As it was originally developed in the United Kingdom, adaptation for Malaysia is needed to address differences in language, food culture, mixed dishes, portion sizes, terminology, and local food composition data.

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a common inflammatory skin disease characterized by severe itching and wheals, affecting approximately 1.4% of the global population. Both second-generation H1-antihistamines and omalizumab have limited efficacy in some patients. Previous studies suggest that combining traditional Chinese medicine with biological agents may improve efficacy and reduce adverse effects in inflammatory skin diseases.

Thirty-day unplanned readmission following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) affects 10%-20% of patients and is a key quality indicator, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where access to cardiac rehabilitation is limited. Existing risk models are static, lack real-time engagement, and no validated large language model (LLM)–based clinical decision support (CDS) system exists for post-CABG readmission prevention.

The current landscape of emergency care (EC) is marked by high demand, leading to issues such as emergency department boarding, overcrowding, and subsequent delays that impact the quality and safety of patient care. Integrating data science into EC can enhance decision-making with predictive, preventative, personalized, and participatory approaches. However, gaps in adherence to fairness, accountability, interpretability, and responsibility are evident, particularly due to barriers to data-sharing, which often result in a lack of transparency and robust oversight in these applications.

From July 2024, Australian pharmacists are remunerated through federal funding to practice on-site within aged care homes. This Aged Care On-site Pharmacist (ACOP) program is novel in both Australian and international practice, aiming to improve the quality use of medicines for vulnerable older persons through medicines governance, person-centered medication reviews, and more. In this program, pharmacists are embedded in facilities and health care teams, varying from historical Australian models where they are visiting health care professionals. Distinct from pharmacist practice in hospital and community pharmacy, the role is professionally isolated from other pharmacists, limiting opportunities for peer collaboration and practice-specific professional development. Peer learning, mentorship, and workplace-based learning opportunities are considered integral for health professional development.

Small island developing states (SIDS) are home to approximately 65 million people worldwide. SIDS have some of the highest rates of cancer mortality burden in the developing world. Disparities in cancer mortality could be attributed to reliance on services overseas, which is a common feature across SIDS due to limited resources for comprehensive cancer care on the islands. However, overseas travel for cancer care remains largely understudied in SIDS, and epidemiological data on the implications on cancer survivorship are lacking.

Informal caregivers (ICs) of patients with advanced incurable diseases experience substantial psychosocial burden and unmet needs. However, efficient screening tools to identify ICs at risk of developing clinically relevant psychosocial problems are lacking. Additionally, most existing studies on burden and needs use cross-sectional designs, failing to capture the dynamic and evolving nature of caregiving.

AI demonstrates considerable potential in nursing education. However, its specific effects on knowledge acquisition, practical skills, satisfaction, competence, and confidence remain inadequately characterized.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), with a rising incidence particularly among women. Regional factors such as limited health care access, cultural barriers, and sex-specific risk factors exacerbate this burden. Despite this, women remain significantly underrepresented in cardiovascular research, and no large-scale, multicenter prospective trials have been conducted to provide national data. To address this gap, we established the Middle East African Registry Women Cardiovascular Disease (MEA-WCVD) to create a comprehensive database on the epidemiological profile and management of heart failure (HF), atrial fibrillation (AF), ischemic heart disease (IHD), and valvular heart disease (VHD) in women.

Culturally responsive nursing involves delivering care that respects and reflects patients’ cultural values, communication patterns, and belief systems. In the Indian context, increasing rural-to-urban migration along with the expansion of medical tourism, estimated to have attracted 2.1 million international patients in 2024, has intensified the need for culturally competent nursing care. Although educational interventions in this area have shown encouraging results, there remains a lack of well-designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in India. For the purpose of this study, structured training is understood as a planned, session-based approach to learning that includes activities such as simulation exercises, case-based discussions, and guided reflection.

Young people with HIV experience disproportionately poor outcomes across the HIV care continuum, high levels of stigma, and elevated alcohol and other substance use. Healthy Choices is a 4-session intervention that integrates motivational interviewing with brief cognitive-behavioral strategies and has demonstrated a positive impact on HIV stigma, alcohol use, depression, and viral load in prior trials among young people with HIV. Interventions such as Healthy Choices have the potential to improve the HIV care continuum in Caribbean settings. However, no interventions have been adapted in Spanish and pilot-tested to concurrently address stigma, mental health, alcohol use, and viral burden among young people with HIV in the Dominican Republic.