JMIR Formative Research

Breast cancer, the most common type of cancer diagnosed in women worldwide, is often associated with the development of lymphedema as a treatment effect. Patients undergoing surgery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy present a higher risk of this side effect. Historically, patients are often not referred to rehabilitation for lymphedema management until the swelling is visible and has progressed, which reduces the chance of reversing the disease progression. Surveillance is key to identifying the earliest signs of breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL), initiating treatment, reversing the disease process, and reducing the impact on function.

Online patient-completed clinical decision aids (CDAs) have the potential to reduce inefficient resource use and patient risk in acute and emergency settings while minimising additional clinician time burden. However, such interventions must be acceptable for use by their target audience - patients.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as violence, substance use, and family disruption disproportionately affect youth in urban communities, increasing the risk of emotional and behavioral challenges. Social-emotional learning (SEL) and trauma-informed programming are effective strategies for mitigating these effects, fostering resilience, and promoting mental well-being. Game-based learning has emerged as a promising, engaging method for delivering SEL content. STRYV365 developed Brain Agents, a trauma-informed, game-based SEL intervention aimed at improving emotional regulation, coping strategies, and interpersonal skills among students in grades 5 through 9.

The accurate diagnosis of mental disorders, such as depression, requires comprehensive, valid, and reliable tools to ensure evidence-based treatments and effective outcome monitoring. Existing diagnostic practices often lack standardization, leading to missed comorbidities and variable diagnostic accuracy. The Klenico system is an innovative, web-based diagnostic tool that integrates patient self-reports with clinical validations by mental health professionals. This system covers a broad spectrum of mental disorders, including depression.

Social frailty poses a potential risk even for relatively healthy older adults, necessitating development of early detection and prevention strategies. Recently, consumer-grade wearable devices have attracted attention due to their ability to continuously collect physiological and activity-related data. These data can potentially be used to calculate digital biomarkers for screening social frailty in older adults.

The integration of digital health solutions (DHSs) into health care systems has the potential to significantly enhance service delivery and health outcomes. Despite their benefits, the adoption remains slow, especially in outpatient care, and is hindered by various barriers, such as unclear effectiveness and high costs.

Just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) are a promising approach in mental health care given the potential scalability (i.e., interventions are offered automatically and remotely) and preciseness (i.e., the right interventions are offered at the right moments). Typically, a smartphone application (app) is programmed to assess users’ psychological states in daily life; when a particular state is detected, the app prompts users to engage in specific behaviors. Conceptually, JITAIs hold significant potential for precision health, although there is currently limited evidence in the literature.

The number of women in the armed forces has steadily increased across all branches, even as the overall size of the military remains stable. The population of women Veterans (WVs) is also expanding. The existing literature has extensively reported the impact of military environmental exposures (MEEs) on adverse physical and mental health outcomes in service members and Veterans; however, most of these studies focus on the experiences of men. In response to the growing need to address women-specific health care concerns, particularly women with MEEs, the Women’s Operational Military Exposure Network Center of Excellent (WOMEN CoE) developed and implemented the Women’s Health Addendum (WHA).

Urinary issues pose a significant burden on health care systems, necessitating innovative solutions to enhance patient care and alleviate the provider burden.

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) relies heavily on the between-session practice of therapeutic exercises to promote skill acquisition and improve psychological flexibility. However, adherence to this between-session practice remains a challenge. Mobile apps offer a promising solution to bridge this gap. However, few ACT apps focus exclusively on supporting clients in their between-session practice, and fewer apps involve stakeholders in their design. ACTaide, a therapy companion mobile app co-designed with stakeholders, addresses these barriers by guiding clients through ACT exercises and metaphors using annotated image sequences, supporting their between-session practice.

Clinical reasoning is a critical skill for physical therapists, involving the collection and interpretation of patient information to form accurate diagnoses. Traditional training often lacks the diversity of clinical cases necessary for students to develop these skills comprehensively. Large Language Models (LLMs) like GPT-4 have the potential to simulate a wide range of clinical scenarios, offering a novel approach to enhance clinical reasoning in physical therapy education.

Scores and prediction models, such as the MESS score for trauma and the Wifi classification for diabetic foot ulcers, help in the decision-making process of amputation. However, they can be subjective as they depend on the experience of the medical staff applying them.