JMIR Human Factors

Hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) oncology involves complex surgical planning and multidisciplinary decision-making that present significant cognitive, spatial, and communicative challenges. While augmented reality (AR) technologies are emerging as valuable tools in surgical planning, most existing systems are developed in a technologically deterministic manner, often without consideration of patients’ lived experiences or the collaborative needs of multidisciplinary clinical teams. This limits their integration into complex workflows and their potential for meaningful clinical impact.

Individuals with germline variants face complex, preference-sensitive medical decisions under psychological distress. Structural constraints in genetic counseling create support gaps during waiting periods, prompting patients to rely on fragmented or misleading online information. Conversational AI may offer low-threshold, continuous informational support, yet methods for its responsible integration into clinical care remain unclear.

Esports athletes face substantial psychological stressors comparable to those experienced by traditional athletes, yet mental health tools tailored to their specific needs remain scarce.

Virtual reality (VR) offers immersive, interactive environments, with growing evidence supporting its use in mental health diagnostics and therapy. Despite the increasing availability of VR equipment in clinical settings, integration into routine mental health care remains limited. Understanding health care workers’ attitudes, knowledge, and perceived barriers is essential for bridging the gap between technological availability and clinical implementation.

Digital health technologies have become integral to modern health care, yet consumer adoption remains uneven. These technologies span a range of consumer-facing tools, including remote care services, mobile apps, wearable devices, conversational agents, and digital medication services, with uptake varying considerably across tool types and by gender. An earlier analysis of this dataset revealed a gender paradox: women reported higher digital literacy compared to men yet demonstrated lower adoption and curiosity toward digital health tools. The Capability, Opportunity, Motivation – Behavior (COM-B) model proposes that behavior occurs when individuals have the capability (skills and confidence), opportunity (access, affordability, and contextual support), and motivation (trust, perceived usefulness, and willingness) to act.

Health information technology (HIT), while designed to improve practice efficiency and patient care, can contribute to physician burnout when designed without clinical practice in mind. Administrative and clinical demands now require physicians to spend more time on HIT, a burden that contributes to burnout and affects time with patients.

The introduction of STARA (smart technology, AI, robotics, and algorithms) changes work processes and the application of skills, depending on specific task design within a given context.

Adherence to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) self-management plans can improve health outcomes, yet access to pulmonary rehabilitation remains limited. Digital self-management interventions, such as , offer a potential means to extend support across care pathways. However, little is known about how these tools are delivered in routine practice or how delivery influences patient engagement across different clinical settings.

Sleep quality is a strategic public health priority and a key factor in the study of circadian rhythms and chronotypes. Nursing students are a particularly vulnerable population group.

Digital health interventions (DHIs) are a potential tool to address communication challenges in primary care medicine by improving patient participation, treatment adherence, and self-management of chronic diseases. However, Germany’s digital health infrastructure remains underdeveloped compared to other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Designing tailored, context-sensitive tools requires a deep understanding of patient needs, particularly for underserved populations navigating complex health care systems. Participatory approaches that actively involve end-users and stakeholders can help ensure that digital health tools are responsive to these needs. Behavioral science frameworks such as the Behavior Change Wheel (BCW), which incorporates the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation–Behavior (COM-B) model, can further support this process. Such technologies, developed using cocreation and behavior change frameworks, may improve health outcomes for underserved patient populations by addressing context-specific needs. This study explores how cocreation and behavioral science can inform the adaptation of a digital patient preparedness tool for international students accessing primary care in Germany.

Image-based pill verification systems demonstrate high model accuracy. However, their effectiveness in pharmacy practice depends on how pharmacists interact with the AI output. The timing of AI advice is one design factor that influences these interactions, yet its impact on pharmacists’ moment-to-moment trust dynamics during medication verification requires further investigation.

Robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) is increasingly being integrated into surgical services worldwide. Successful implementation of robotic surgical technologies depends not only on clinical effectiveness but also on public trust, perceptions of safety, and willingness to use technology-enabled care. In the United Arab Emirates, the adoption of RAS is expanding rapidly; however, evidence regarding public perceptions and factors influencing acceptance remains limited.