JMIR Human Factors

Women with cardiovascular disease (CVD) remain underserved due to gaps in recognition, diagnosis, and care tailored to sex-specific risks. Digital health tools have the potential to address these inequities, but many fail to reflect the distinct needs of women. In a prior review, we assessed 20 CVD apps and 22 wearables and found that only 25% (5/20) of apps and 40% (9/22) of wearables included any sex-specific content, such as hormone cycle tracking and life-stage considerations related to pregnancy or menopause. These findings confirm that current digital tools largely mirror the gender gaps seen in traditional care.

Diabetic foot ulceration (DFU) is the leading cause of non-traumatic amputations in people with diabetes. Research shows that improving patient awareness can result in short-term improvements, but Cochrane reviews report insufficient high-quality evidence.

The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is driving digital transformation and reshaping medical education in China. Numerous medical schools and institutions are actively implementing AI tools for case-based learning, literature analysis, and lecture support. This expanding application is accelerating the adoption of localized AI platforms, which are poised to become integral components in the coming years.

Entrapment of sickled red blood cells in the microvasculature leads to sudden painful vaso-occlusive crises (VOC) in sickle cell disease (SCD). This is potentially triggered by autonomic nervous system mediated vasoconstriction in peripheral vasculature and resultant decrease in microvascular blood flow. Indeed, vasoconstriction biomarkers derived from a single night of laboratory-based fingertip photoplethysmography (PPG) recording were predictive of higher frequency of future VOC in SCD. Non-invasive, remote and longitudinal monitoring of autonomic vasoreactivity will facilitate development of predictive biomarkers of imminent VOC.

South Asian communities in Canada face significant disparities in access to healthcare and experience higher rates of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and hypertension. Hospital-at-home services have the potential to improve access and outcomes, yet little is known about how these services are perceived and experienced by South Asian patients and caregivers. Understanding both barriers and facilitators is critical for culturally responsive implementation.

Technology-assisted 24-hour dietary recall (24HR) methods offer the potential for scalable population dietary assessment, but current challenges include balancing accuracy and cost against participant burden and acceptability of these methods. Qualitative methods present a novel approach to understanding potential barriers and enablers to the acceptability of 24HR methods, but remain relatively unexplored.

Dementia increases the risk of individuals getting lost due to cognitive decline, impacting daily functioning and heightening caregiver worry. Traditional search methods are often time-consuming and stressful, while GPS-based technologies face limitations like battery dependency. A crowdsourcing Internet of Things (IoT) technology using energy-efficient Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) offers a potential solution to locate missing individuals with dementia more effectively by harnessing the power of the crowd and fostering a caring and inclusive community.

Although research has found online peer support forums to be helpful for those with mental health conditions, no studies have explored the experiences of those who use forums for support with postpartum psychosis (PP) specifically.

Making optimal use of mobile health technologies requires the validation of digital biomarkers, which demands high levels of participant adherence and retention. However, current remote digital health studies have high attrition rates and low participant adherence, which may introduce bias and limit the generalizability of the findings.

Despite the promise of digital therapeutics in providing scalable interventions for psychosis, translating them from clinical trials to routine care is challenging. SloMo is an evidence-based, digitally supported cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis comprising a web-based therapy platform and mobile app. The therapy encourages individuals to slow down for a moment, to address fast-thinking habits fueling paranoia. SloMo has received a NICE Early Value Assessment recommendation for use in the National Health Service to address evidence gaps related to its use in the real world, and an implementation study is underway.

Telemedicine services have been developing rapidly worldwide. Following the 2018 policy enabling telemedicine for follow-up patients, this service model has gradually gained popularity in China. However, little has been done to understand the policy’s implementation across different types of medical institutions or to evaluate its effectiveness.

Trust in AI remains a critical barrier to adoption of artificial Intelligence (AI) in mental health care. This study explores the formation of trust in an AI mental health model and its human–computer interface (HCI) among clinicians at an online mental health clinic in the Region of Southern Denmark with national coverage.