JMIR Research Protocols

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disabling mental disorder, characterized by obsessions, compulsions, and substantial morbidity. Approximately 50% of adults with OCD fail to achieve satisfactory outcomes from first-line treatments, such as exposure therapy with response prevention (ERP), with or without medication. This leads to chronic social, educational, and occupational impairment. While invasive procedures such as deep brain stimulation are available for severe, treatment-refractory cases, a need remains for less invasive alternatives. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a noninvasive intervention, shows promise in reducing OCD symptoms. Unlike in depression, rTMS is not yet reimbursed for OCD in the Dutch healthcare system.

Accurate assessment of surgical margins is essential in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the upper aerodigestive tract or of cutaneous origin and of basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Intraoperative frozen section analysis is the current reference standard but is time-consuming and requires coordination between surgical and pathology teams. Ex vivo reflectance confocal microscopy offers rapid, real-time evaluation of surgical margins and may provide diagnostic information comparable to frozen section analysis while enabling the development of a reference atlas for tumor visualization.

The African continent has witnessed a notable shift in its economic landscape, marked by a significant rise in unemployment and a parallel surge in informal trading activities. In response to economic challenges, a substantial number of women within the informal trading sector in African countries have ventured beyond their home settings to engage in trading, aiming to alleviate poverty within their households. However, this pursuit is often characterized by conditions of poverty and socioeconomic difficulties. These women frequently lack access to fundamental health care and social protection services, and they operate within environments that are suboptimal for health and safety. This highlights a gap in knowledge regarding their challenges and barriers in accessing health care and an opportunity for better understanding.

Stainless steel (SS) orthodontic archwires are widely used because of their mechanical properties, affordability, and biocompatibility; yet, prolonged intraoral exposure can cause electrochemical corrosion and release of metal ions (eg, Ni and Cr) that may affect clinical performance and patient safety. Surface coatings such as silver dioxide have been proposed to improve corrosion resistance, but comparative data for silver dioxide–coated versus uncoated SS orthodontic archwires across clinically relevant simulated oral environments are lacking.

Adolescent mental health care is constrained not only by limited treatment capacity but also by the absence of precise and efficient tools to identify and triage those in need. Measurement-based mental health care relies on standardized assessments to guide identification, treatment selection, and ongoing monitoring of mental disorders. However, conventional assessments present a trade-off: diagnostic interviews lack feasibility at scale, while brief screening tools result in misclassification and suboptimal allocation of limited mental health resources. Computerized adaptive testing addresses this trade-off by dynamically tailoring assessments to individuals, maximizing measurement precision while minimizing assessment burden. Despite these advances, no adaptive assessment for adolescent mental health has been developed or calibrated using African data.

Leisure participation is essential for children’s health and well-being and is also a fundamental human right; however, children and youth with disabilities face significant barriers to participation compared with their peers without disabilities. The Jooay App was developed to address gaps in information and access to adaptive and inclusive leisure activities. A new gamification-based version of the Jooay App was co-designed with users, including youth with disabilities, parents, and health care professionals.

Black, Caribbean, and African immigrant communities in Canada face compounding systemic inequities that undermine mental well-being and limit access to culturally grounded mental health promotion (MHP) strategies. Despite growing national policy attention to these disparities, the landscape of MHP programs and initiatives developed for, with, or by Black, Caribbean, and African populations remains fragmented and poorly synthesized.

Wellness my Way is a chronic disease prevention model of care being piloted across South West Queensland, Australia, a region of high chronic disease burden. Wellness my Way is an initiative of the Queensland Government through Health and Wellbeing Queensland, delivered in partnership with Queensland Health’s Health Contact Centre and South West Hospital and Health Service, supported by multisectoral collaborations.

Primary care professionals (PCPs) are responsible for identifying eligibility and supporting patient decisions for a wide range of recommended screenings. However, the number of recommendations (42 for adults in France), complex eligibility criteria, limited consultation time, and competing priorities hinder their systematic delivery. Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) with patient decision aids may help structure prevention-focused consultations and support shared decision-making, but their feasibility and acceptability in routine primary care remain uncertain. As part of the Aide aux Dépistages Recommandés (ADER) research program, we developed Lianeli, a CDSS designed to provide individualized, patient-centered support for all nationally recommended screenings.

Mental health problems frequently emerge during adolescence and young adulthood, yet many young people do not seek or receive timely support. Digital mental health interventions, including serious games and gamified tools, may improve accessibility and engagement, but evidence for their feasibility and preliminary efficacy across diverse European settings remains limited.

Advances in the understanding of type 1 diabetes (T1D) natural history have enabled screening for islet autoantibodies and the detection of presymptomatic (early-stage) T1D prior to clinical presentation and the need for insulin replacement therapy. As screening programs expand, increasing numbers of children are being identified with early-stage T1D, creating a pressing need for relevant, accessible, evidence-based educational resources. Due to the rapidly changing paradigm of T1D care in such settings, many health care professionals currently lack awareness or guidance on which educational resources to recommend to families. To date, no review has systematically identified and evaluated educational resources for families navigating early-stage T1D or for health care professionals supporting them.

Aging in place is a priority for many older adults but often requires home adaptations when temporary or permanent physical disabilities arise. It reduces the risk of falls, improves health-related quality of life, and enhances social participation. Two new digital innovations aim to support home adaptation: Hygiene 2.0, which facilitates the adaptation of baths and showers, and MapIt, which provides 3D mapping of the environment.