JMIR Research Protocols

In the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, the global COVID-19 pandemic appeared amidst existing social health challenges in food insecurity, housing precarity and homelessness, poor mental health, and substance misuse. These chronic features intersected with the pandemic, producing a moment in time when the urgency of COVID-19 brought attention to underlying shortcomings in public health services.

Communication is a critical component of the patient-provider relationship; however, limited research exists on the role of nonverbal communication. Virtual human training is an informatics-based educational strategy that offers various benefits in communication skill training directed at providers. Recent informatics-based interventions aimed at improving communication have mainly focused on verbal communication, yet research is needed to better understand how virtual humans can improve verbal and nonverbal communication and further elucidate the patient-provider dyad.

Data regarding the kinetics of anti–SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and information about post–COVID-19 condition (colloquially known as “long COVID”) in children are scarce, especially in low-income countries. Even though cases of COVID-19 in children are less prevalent than adults, post–COVID-19 condition cases in children are high and have a burden that may impact their growth and development. There are other features of antibody kinetics in connection with SARS-CoV-2 infection that are yet unknown as of this writing, especially in children following infection. Furthermore, the long-term results, risk factors, and underlying pathophysiology are still uncertain. To better understand post–COVID-19 condition in children, it is necessary to further investigate the impact of clinically significant factors such multisystem inflammatory syndrome and disease severity among hospitalized survivors through their SARS-CoV-2 antibody response.

The COVID-19 pandemic undermined gains in reducing maternal and perinatal mortality in South Africa. The Mphatlalatsane Initiative is a health system intervention to reduce mortality and morbidity in women and newborns to desired levels.

In hospitalized patients with COVID-19, the dosing and timing of corticosteroids vary widely. Low-dose dexamethasone therapy reduces mortality in patients requiring respiratory support, but it remains unclear how to treat patients when this therapy fails. In critically ill patients, high-dose corticosteroids are often administered as salvage late in the disease course, whereas earlier administration may be more beneficial in preventing disease progression. Previous research has revealed that increased levels of various biomarkers are associated with mortality, and whole blood transcriptome sequencing has the ability to identify host factors predisposing to critical illness in patients with COVID-19.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is predominantly caused by mutations in the 4 FH candidate genes (FHCGs), namely, low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), apolipoprotein B-100 (APOB-100), proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), and the LDL receptor adaptor protein 1 (LDLRAP1). It is characterized by elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) levels leading to premature coronary artery disease. FH can be clinically diagnosed using established clinical criteria, namely, Simon Broome (SB) and Dutch Lipid Clinic Criteria (DLCC), and can be identified using the Familial Hypercholesterolemia Case Ascertainment Tool (FAMCAT), a primary care screening tool.

The psychosocial needs and risks of children with cancer and their families are well-documented including increased risk of parental distress, posttraumatic stress, and anxiety. There is a critical need to provide evidence-based psychosocial care to parents and caregivers of children with cancer. Digital health interventions are important to address many barriers to in-person intervention delivery but are not widely used in pediatric psychosocial cancer care. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for flexible, acceptable, and accessible psychosocial digital health interventions. The Electronic Surviving Cancer Competently Intervention Program (eSCCIP) is an innovative digital health intervention for parents and caregivers of children with cancer, delivered through a combination of self-guided web-based content and supplemented by 3 telehealth follow-up sessions with a trained telehealth guide. A Spanish language adaptation of eSCCIP, El Programa Electronico de Intervencion para Superar Cancer Competentemente (eSCCIP-SP), has been developed. The self-guided web-based cores of eSCCIP/eSCCIP-SP are a mix of didactic video content, multifamily video discussion groups featuring parents of children with cancer, and hands-on web-based activities.

Living with HIV is a risk factor for severe acute COVID-19, but it is unknown whether it is a risk factor for long COVID.

Digital health technologies have the potential to transform health care services to be more cost-effective, coordinated, and accessible on equal terms for entire populations. In the future, people will be assisted by such technologies to monitor their health status, take preventive measures, and have more control of their health situation. An increase in digital supplementation or substitution of physical care visits can potentially add value to patients and care providers by increasing accessibility, safety, and quality of care. However, health care organizations struggle with the challenges of developing and implementing digital health technologies and services in practice. As a response to this, we have developed a national multidisciplinary research school to increase competence and capacity for research on the development, implementation, and dissemination of digital health technology solutions. The overall aim of the research school is to increase national competence and capacity for the development, implementation, and dissemination of digital health technology to increase the preparedness to support and facilitate the ongoing digital transformation in the health care system.

Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is associated with high mortality, and early diagnosis leads to better survival. Patients with cirrhosis, especially due to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and viral hepatitis, are at higher risk of developing HCC and form the main screening group. The current screening methods for HCC (6-monthly screening with serum alpha fetoprotein and ultrasound liver) have low sensitivity; hence, there is a need for better screening markers for HCC.

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) adolescents and young adults (AYAs) are at increased risk of HIV infection, particularly in the Southern United States. Despite the availability of effective biomedical prevention strategies, such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), access and uptake remain low among SGM AYAs. In response, the Louisiana Department of Health initiated the LA TelePrEP Program, which leverages the power of telemedicine to connect Louisiana residents to PrEP. A virtual TelePrEP Navigator guides users through the enrollment process, answers questions, schedules appointments, and facilitates lab testing and medication delivery. To increase the participation of SGM AYAs in the program, the TelePrEP program partnered with researchers to develop a chatbot that would facilitate access to the program and support navigator functions. Chatbots are capable of carrying out many functions that reduce employee workload, and despite their successful use in health care and public health, they are relatively new to HIV prevention.

The prevalence of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a major concern in public health. Two main factors (individual and environmental) cause NSSI. Studies addressing NSSI often consider it as an emotion regulation strategy. Studying NSSI within the framework of attachment theory is reasonable since the capacities to regulate emotion come into existence in the framework of attachment in the first periods of a child’s growth. Primary studies addressing this topic are not frequent, and no systematic review has been conducted.