Telemedicine

The #aware.hiv Europe study is a real-world, multicenter, stepped-wedge cluster randomized, effectiveness-implementation trial designed to evaluate whether the introduction of dedicated HIV teams in hospitals can improve HIV testing rates among patients presenting with HIV indicator conditions across ten European countries. Study Design: The study employs a stepped-wedge design, whereby clusters of hospitals transition sequentially from a control phase (routine care) to an intervention phase. All patient data are collected retrospectively from routine care, while prospective data are gathered at the healthcare professional level. The project spans four years and involves hospitals from the Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Romania, Poland, and Ukraine. This design allows for comparison of HIV testing rates and related outcomes before and after the implementation across different settings and time points. Intervention: The core intervention involves the establishment of hospital-based HIV teams. Each team is led by an HIV specialist and supported by nurses and data collectors. Their responsibilities include: Identification and Surveillance: Screening routine electronic health records for HIV indicator conditions using predefined ICD-10 codes and verifying cases that warrant HIV testing. Audit \& Feedback: Providing targeted recommendations to treating physicians when an HIV test is indicated but has not been performed, thereby prompting action. Education \& Training: Delivering training sessions to healthcare professionals to improve their knowledge and attitudes towards HIV testing, prevention, and care. Enabling Environment: Implementing digital solutions and other support mechanisms to streamline testing processes, reduce stigma, and enhance overall guideline adherence. Linkage to prevention: Improving linkage to the locally available preventive services. The intervention is intended to integrate seamlessly into routine hospital care, thereby reinforcing existing guidelines while addressing the current diagnostic testing gap. Endpoints and Outcome Measures: Primary Endpoint: The change in HIV testing rate among patients diagnosed with HIV indicator conditions before and after the implementation of HIV teams. Key Secondary Endpoints: The change in the incidence of new HIV diagnoses among patients with HIV indicator conditions. Variations in HIV testing rates across different countries, medical specialties, and types of indicator conditions, as well as over time. Assessment of the cascade of HIV diagnosis, including the proportion of patients identified with an indicator condition, the offer and acceptance of HIV testing, and documented reasons for non-testing. Evaluation of the cascade of HIV care and prevention, including linkage to HIV care, achievement of viral suppression, and referral and uptake of preventive services. Changes in healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitudes, and levels of stigma towards HIV. Implementation outcomes such as fidelity of HIV team activities, resource utilization, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability of the intervention. Analysis of contextual factors, barriers, and facilitators impacting the implementation process, using established frameworks like CFIR and RE-AIM. Impact: By introducing HIV teams and systematically monitoring their effect on HIV testing practices, the study aims to enhance early HIV diagnosis and improve patient outcomes. The findings will contribute to evidence-based guidelines and may promote the adoption of similar interventions across European healthcare settings, ultimately reducing HIV-associated morbidity, mortality, and transmission rates. This project not only addresses a critical diagnostic gap in HIV care but also provides valuable insights into the effective implementation of complex interventions in routine clinical practice.

Digital technologies have evolved exponentially in the dental medicine field endorsing a change between the conventional methods to virtually based methodologies in daily clinical and laboratorial practice. Combining facial aspects and proportions with dento-gingival parameters are the basis when planning a new smile design and a final rehabilitationFacial surface images can be used for more predictable measurement and quantification of vertical dimension of occlusion and lip support before, during and after a full mouth rehabilitation. Besides that, the information obtained by facial scanners have a major impact in treatment planning process especially in multidisciplinary complex cases with the simulation of the treatment, identification of patient's expectations and the implementation of an effective communication tool. The 4D-virtual patient is the future regarding the management of a patient in dental medicine, since the beginning of the process with data acquisition for the diagnosis to the definitive oral rehabilitation procedures. Similar to any methodology, it is important to understand what are the basis of the facial scanning and what protocols can obtain better results in terms of accuracy and reliability.

Obesity in childhood is a global public health problem which continues to increase. It is associated with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, certain types of cancer, decreased psychosocial health and early mortality, among many other short- and long-term consequences. It is estimated that families of children with obesity need at least 26 hours of contact with the health care per year to make it possible for the children to reach a clinically relevant reduction in degree of obesity. Such visit frequency is difficult to carry out due to its cost for society and places great demands on families. A digital support system named Evira has newly been developed and is based on four cornerstones; a) daily self-monitoring of weight, b) a mobile app used by parents to easily follow weight development, c) a website on which clinicians view the same data as parents do and d) communication between clinicians and parents by text messages through the website and the mobile app. Hence, Evira enables close follow-up of treatment results and continuous communication between the healthcare and the families. The overall aim is to evaluate the effects of adding Evira, a digital support system for childhood obesity treatment and accompanying treatment manual, to the already locally used life-style treatment. Boys and girls aged 4-17 years old with obesity will be asked for participation. All patient who fulfills the inclusion criteria and have signed the informed consent form will be included and randomized into the study. Randomization means that the patient can either be randomized to intervention (Evira Care) or control (Standard Lifestyle Care) group. The study duration is 12 months. The Intervention group will receive Evira support (Evira Care) in combination with local standard treatment (Standard Lifestyle Care). During the first 2-4 weeks, they will receive information about the system and how to utilize the daily weighings and communication system. The families will be informed about possible lifestyle changes that may be effective. Furthermore, they will be informed that they are supposed to do lifestyle changes primarily regarding energy intake that they do consider feasible in their specific living situations. Within four weeks after randomization, the families will get one or two scales, depending on the family situation. The parent's will also have the mobile app installed in their smart phones and, depending on the age of the child, in the child's phone as well. The individual weight loss target curve for the first three months of treatment will be installed in the database and presented in the application. The control group will receive Standard Lifestyle Care without any restriction in visits or clinical support. The following clinical investigations will be completed in both groups: 1) Physical examination including puberty, cardio-respiratory, thyroid status, skin (e.g. acanthosis nigricans) and abdominal examinations, and 2) Weight, height, and blood pressure. Blood sampling in accordance with local routine can be reported at any time-point. In addition to the clinical investigation, all participants will be asked to answer questionnaires including quality of life, eating disorders, and treatment satisfaction. Background information and negative side effects will be reported in the electronic case report form (e-crf).

This study is a randomized controlled trial designed to assess the impact of an ambient artificial-intelligence (AI) scribe on physician well-being, documentation workload, and patient experience in routine outpatient care. The intervention consists of using the Voa Health ambient AI scribe during clinical encounters. The system records the audio of the consultation and generates a structured draft clinical note in real time, aligned with specialty-specific templates that reflect the routine workflow of each clinic (for example, different templates for general cardiology, heart failure, dyslipidemia, etc.). At the end of the visit, the physician reviews, edits, and signs the draft in the electronic medical record (EMR), remaining fully responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the documentation. In the control condition, physicians conduct consultations and document encounters using their usual methods without AI support. For study purposes, audio may still be recorded in the control arm, but no AI-generated note is displayed or used by the clinician. The unit of randomization is the individual consultation. For participating physicians, eligible visits are automatically allocated to one of two parallel arms: (1) usual documentation without AI and (2) documentation assisted by the ambient AI scribe. Randomization is designed to preserve the existing organization of each clinic and to avoid interference with scheduling or patient flow. Clinical care, diagnostic and therapeutic decisions, and follow-up procedures are not dictated by the protocol and follow usual practice; the only experimental element is the use (or non-use) of the AI scribe for documentation and the collection of audio and questionnaires. Adult patients seen in participating outpatient clinics, and their physicians, are invited to take part. After informed consent, the entire consultation is audio-recorded. Immediately after each visit, both patient and physician are asked to complete brief, structured questionnaires that capture the main outcomes of interest. To keep data collection feasible in a busy ambulatory setting, the instruments were built from subsets of items derived from internationally used scales, while keeping the number of questions per consultation small. For physicians, items are drawn from the Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI), the Mini-Z 2.0 survey, and the 4-item Physician Task Load / NASA-TLX. These items assess professional fulfillment and burnout (physical and emotional exhaustion), perceived sufficiency of time for documentation, work in the EMR outside direct patient contact, perceived documentation burden, and temporal demand of the visit. Additional study-specific items evaluate the perceived quality and completeness of the final note, time required to edit the AI-generated draft, confidence that key clinical details were captured, occurrence of potential AI "hallucinations" (information not actually stated in the visit), and the perceived impact of documentation on attention to the patient. For patients, questionnaires use items derived from the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure, the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire Short-Form (PSQ-18), and the Communication Assessment Tool (CAT). These items cover domains such as active listening, understanding of patient concerns, clarity of explanations, adequacy of time spent with the physician, perceived empathy, overall satisfaction with care, and understanding of diagnosis and treatment. In the AI arm, one additional item specifically asks whether the use of AI during the consultation helped, did not change, or hindered the clarity of communication with the physician. The primary outcomes are physician-reported well-being and perceived documentation workload when using the ambient AI scribe compared with usual documentation. Key secondary outcomes include patient-reported experience and satisfaction, physician-rated quality and completeness of notes, time required for documentation and for editing AI-generated drafts, and the frequency and clinical relevance of AI-related documentation errors or hallucinations. All outcomes are measured at the level of the individual consultation, immediately after each visit. The trial is initially conducted in multiple outpatient clinics of Hospital de Clínicas of the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Brazil, across different medical specialties. In each service, structured note templates are developed in collaboration with local clinical leaders so that the AI-generated drafts reflect the real-world flow of that specialty without changing the standard of care. Medical students and residents trained in the protocol may support consent and questionnaire administration under supervision of attending physicians, to ensure consistent and feasible data collection. Data are stored in secure, access-controlled servers, with linkage between audio recordings, questionnaires, and EMR notes managed through coded identifiers. A data monitoring committee, independent from the development team of the AI scribe, periodically reviews aggregated data for protocol adherence, data quality, and any safety concerns related to the use of AI in documentation (for example, systematic documentation errors that could potentially affect patient care). Because the intervention is limited to documentation support and clinicians remain responsible for all clinical decisions and for finalizing the notes, the overall risk of participation is considered minimal. The protocol allows for future expansion to other outpatient services and collaborating centers that adopt the same randomization, data collection procedures, and outcome definitions. The results are expected to provide pragmatic evidence on how ambient AI scribes can be implemented safely and effectively in real-world clinical practice, particularly regarding their impact on physician well-being, documentation workload, and the patient's experience of the consultation.

Increasing heat exposure from climate change is causing and exacerbating heat-related illnesses in millions worldwide - particularly in low resource settings. June 2024 was the 13th consecutive hottest month on record globally - shattering previous records. Heat exposure can instigate and worsen health conditions including cardiovascular, metabolic, endocrine and respiratory disease, heat-related illnesses, pregnancy complications, and mental health conditions. Adaptation is essential for protecting people from increasing heat exposure. The built environment, especially our homes, are ideal for deploying interventions to reduce heat exposure and accelerate adaptation efforts. However, currently there is a lack of evidence on a global scale - generated through empirical studies - guiding the uptake of interventions to reduce heat stress in low resource settings. Sunlight-reflecting cool roof coatings passively reduce indoor temperatures and lower energy use, offering protection to home occupants from extreme heat. The investigators aim to conduct a global multi-centre cluster-randomized controlled trial investigating the effects of cool-roof use on health, environmental and economic outcomes in five urban climate hotspots - Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (sub-Saharan Africa), Ahmedabad, India (Asia), Tavua, Fiji and Niue (Oceania), and Colima, Mexico (Latin America). The sites represent hotspots where people experience a triple burden from heat exposure, chronic health issues and vulnerable housing conditions (slums, informal settlements and low socioeconomic housing). They also exhibit diversity in climate profiles, housing typology, level of socioeconomic development, population density and rates of urbanisation. The trial will quantify whether cool roofs are an effective passive home cooling intervention with beneficial health effects for vulnerable populations in four locations. Findings will inform global policy responses on scaling cool roof implementation to protect people from increasing heat exposure driven by climate change.

Observational assessment through patient interviews of relational, structural and organisational aspects related to the humanisation of health care. These data will be related to health outcomes such as pain, sleep quality, anxiety levels, adverse events (pressure injuries, falls, and mortality), satisfaction with the care received, and experience in communication processes with health professionals. Data will also be collected on work ergonomics variables (stress, burnout, working conditions, ratios) of nurses and health technicians, which will also be related to the health outcomes collected.

Study design : eMOB study is a monocentric prospective cohort study. We aim to explore in a longitudinal study the association of a digital signature of PA and sedentary lifestyle with the development of at least one additionnal comorbidity overs 4 years of follow-up in chronic diseases. Population : Patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease(rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis), pre-surgical knee and hip osteoarthritis, major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, type 2 diabetes, obesity, COPD and chronic pain followed up in the observational cohorts specific to each pathology at the CHU of Clermont Ferrand, will be proposed to participate in the study during their follow-up visit. Method : The occurrence of comorbidity is monitored every year during follow-up visits of the patients. Physical activity and sedentary lifestyle is assessed using accelerometer and wearable sensors. The combination of quantitative analysis of movement with a more detailed analysis of movement and sequences of movements, and a personalization of the algorithm according to the disease and the context, could make it possible to establish predictive signatures either of the disease itself or of associated complications. 700 patients will be included in the study.They will be followed for 4 years with : * An annual visit during which : * clinical data in the routine follow-up will be collected (BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, heart rate, comorbidities, activity and severity scores specific to each disease and used for the routine follow-up, treatments, lifestyle, family and socio-professional situation, education level) * comorbidities will be noted by the list used for the study * physical capacity will be assessed with the 6-minute walk test and the hand grip * questionnaires about Pain (QCD), Fatigue (FACIT-F), Anxiety and Depression (HADs), Quality of life (WhoQol-BREF), Poverty (EPICES), Physical activity questionnaire (RPAQ), Barriers and Facilitators to physical activity questionnaire (B\&F-AP), Sleep and daytime sleepiness (PSQI and Epworth), treatment compliance (MARS) will be completed * specific data for each pathology in each cohort will be collected * Accelerometer data 3 times a year for 5 days (3 weekdays and 2 weekend days) will be collected * Electronic patient report outcomes (e-PRO) every 4 months concerning the socio-professional situation of the patients, alcohol and tobacco consumption, skipping meals and snacking between meals, health problems they may encounter during the study. Numerical scales between 0 and 10 will be completed to assess disease status, health status, pain, sleep, fatigue, psychological well-being, and anxiety. Among the included patients, 10 patients per cohort will participate in the preliminary feasibility phase of the study before starting the follow-up in the study. It is a validation of the acquisition modalities of the pre-selected sensors and a calibration on representative samples of patients with the different chronic pathologies studied (locomotor, respiratory, metabolic, psychiatric, pain).

In the United States, poor adherence accounts for up to 70% of all medication-related hospital admissions, resulting in $100 billion in healthcare costs annually Adherence rates have been reported as low as 0% in pediatric patients. Reasons for non-adherence are multifactorial. The most important determinants of non-adherence are consistently documented as complexity and duration of treatment regimens, as well as forgetfulness. Thus, children undergoing difficult hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) that require medication indefinitely are at high risk for medication non-adherence. Only 4 published studies exist regarding adherence in pediatric HSCT. None address adherence to immunosuppressant medication, nor are they RCTs. Second, the complexity of most interventions for adherence is counter to the geographic, resource, and time constraints families of chronically ill children face. Adherence interventions based on conventional behavior theory have been cumbersome for families already stressed due to chronic illness. BE design is a significant paradigm shift to a simpler, less onerous approach that can engage those patients and families that would otherwise forego complicated adherence interventions. Although mHealth adherence apps are a widely available, simple, and innovative approach to addressing these problems, a third gap relates to poor usability. For example, a recent review of pediatric adherence apps found that none identified individual barriers to adherence, and nearly all were designed for adults. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop and evaluate innovative, accessible, and evidence-based approached to adherence among children receiving HSCT to prevent morbidity and mortality from GVHD. The impact of non-adherence on clinical outcomes is largely unknown in pediatric HSCT. poor adherence is generally associated with adverse outcomes, including complications, hospital admissions, and even death. The societal burden of cancer care and HSCT is substantial and likely to increase based on the growing number of transplants each year. Clinicians and researchers have focused on GVHD prevention to minimize unnecessary treatment-related deaths. Acute GVHD develops in the first 100 days post-transplant. Children that develop acute GVHD have a 30% to 50% chance of survival. Morbidity and mortality due to GVHD can be decreased through prophylactic use of immunosuppressants. Although these medications are costly and produce unpleasant side effects, adherence is critical to decrease complications, reduce readmissions, and ultimately increase quality of life and survival. Adherence is complex, but ultimately, the final common pathway to adherence is human behavior. In pediatrics, adherence is largely dependent on parents. As the primary caregivers, they are responsible for ensuring children receive the prescribed therapy correctly. In a high-risk HSCT population, caregivers are isolated with their child due to infection risk and must manage challenging treatment regimens at home, often with limited time and support. Complex behavioral interventions, typically employed to address adherence, are difficult to deliver and manage in the context of these daily tasks. Alternatively, behavioral economics (BE) theory suggests that small "nudges" can produce and sustain behavior change. A BE approach is a significant paradigm shift and assumes decision-making can be influenced through low-intensity interventions to lead patients to optimal choices. Improved adherence to medication and exercise programs using BE designed interventions in adults have been positive. Within pediatrics, BE has been successful in reducing childhood obesity, increasing vaccination rates, and improving adherence rates to infant HIV medications.

Detailed Description The considerable prevalence of sexual dysfunction (SD) after prostate cancer (PCa) treatment makes SD post-treatment a substantial health-related quality of life burden for patients and their partners. Research indicates that 40% to 75% of men suffer from SD post-PCa. Sixty percent of men experience significant distress in response to SD. Significant distress is also reported by partners and couples. Overall, patients cite sexual health concerns as the most significant unmet need following treatment for PCa. Accordingly, there is an existent need for equitable, timely, and affordable access to high-quality SD treatment for Canadian PCa patients and their partners. Unfortunately, none of the empirically-based, comprehensive interventions reported in the literature have been implemented into clinical settings in Canada. The lack of translation from research evidence to clinical implementation is common across healthcare provision. It is known that most research, even positive full-scale studies, do not result in practice-change or take years to do so. A key aspect contributing to this lack of knowledge translation is the complexity of transitioning an "experimental intervention" to "real world" clinical settings. In sexual healthcare in oncology, ineffective knowledge translation is ubiquitous and includes several unique complexities that impair the implementation, integration, and sustainability of empirically-based treatment. The recent advent of virtual care in healthcare offers an opportunity to address many of the barriers to implementing sexual recovery programs within PCa treatment facilities. Virtual care provides greater accessibility for patients not proximal to cancer centres, or who are unable to travel due to financial constraints or physical limitations. Encouragingly, examples of internet-delivered interventions exist for men with PCa and their partners. Schover and colleagues found that a digitally-based intimacy enhancement intervention was as effective as a brief in-person sex therapy intervention in improving sexual outcomes in couples after PCa. Although these advances in models of care provision are inspiring, the majority of Canadian PCa patients and their partners have yet to benefit from virtual care innovations. In an effort to advance evidence-based survivorship programming in the treatment of SD post-PC, a team of expert Canadian healthcare practitioners and patient/partner advocates developed the Sexual Health and Rehabilitation eClinic (SHAReClinic). SHAReClinic is a web-based, bio-psychosocial SD intervention specifically for patients/couples who have undergone treatment for PCa. A pilot study evaluating the acceptability and engagement of SHAReClinic achieved significant patient activity on the platform and 80% patient engagement at 1-year follow-up. Additionally, evaluation of the effectiveness of SHAReClinic showed non-inferior sexual health outcomes when compared to a "best practice" in-person sexual health clinic. Rationale Sexual dysfunction after PCa treatment has significant adverse impacts on patient/partner health-related quality of life. Few Cancer Centres in Canada offer comprehensive care for SD post-PCa treatment, resulting in significant barriers to care equity and access. SHAReClinic is established as effective virtual care programming for SD post-PCa. The goal of this research is to evaluate the SHAReClinic in 2 cancer centres currently using it as usual care and 9 cancer centres which has newly implemented SHAReClinic as part of their usual care. The SHAReClinic will be offered to 1. Newly diagnosed patients at who are scheduled to undergo active treatment for localized prostate cancer, 2. patients currently undergoing active treatment for prostate cancer and 3. patients who have undergone prostate cancer treatment within the last 6 months. Active treatment can include any of the following options surgical, radiation, and/or ADT. The SHAReClinic goals are to re-establish optimal sexual function, satisfaction and to support the maintenance of intimacy following prostate cancer treatment. These goals are addressed through two complementary components: 1) a bio-medical component (erectile rehabilitation), focused on the long term penile health or short-term erectile function as per patient preference, and 2) a psychological component (intimacy maintenance), involving the maintenance or restoration of couples' intimacy and sexual activity (penetrative or non-penetrative). Both physical and psychological factors can affect patients' sexual satisfaction after cancer treatment; resultantly, interventions should incorporate a bio-psychosocial approach to rehabilitation. Study Design This is a prospective observational evaluation of a virtual sexual health and rehabilitation intervention program. As part of patient standard care, facilitated web-based clinic visits will be provided to patients once before treatment, 6 weeks, 10 weeks, 4 months, 6 months and 12 months post cancer treatment. Patients who opt-in to the SHAReClinic will also be invited to register for this study. The study involves no additional requirements from patients, as all questionnaires (baseline, 6-weeks, 6 months, and 12 months) are completed as part of their enrolment in the SHAReClinic. Patients experience in the SHAReClinic involves the following: Upon registration, patients will be paired with a sexual health coach from their center and asked about their availability to receive a phone/video call from their sexual health coach. At the beginning of the first clinic visit, participants will be asked to complete a set of questionnaires. The questionnaires take around 10-15 minutes to complete. Patients are also asked to complete the same questionnaires at 6 week, 6 months and 12 months. The topics covered in each clinic visit vary and are based on the treatment schedules of the participants. A Q\&A session on the web page will be available for participants to leave any questions or concerns regarding their sexual health, rehabilitation process and the content of the portal. Participants are free to request for a check-in call with their sexual health coach if they want to chat about their concerns by phone. Each clinic visit will last approximately 30 minutes. If participants miss their clinic visit, they will get a notification from the platform and then a reminder call from their sexual health coach. At the end of their final SHAReClinic clinic visit, participants will be asked to fill out a satisfaction questionnaire, including questions about the ease of access to the website, their experience with SHAReClinic portals and communication with their sexual health coach. The satisfaction questionnaire takes about 10 minutes to complete.

All patients will be included just after implantation and will then be followed during 48 months after inclusion. At each on-site or remote follow-up visit (1 to 3 months, 6, 12, 24 and 48 months), performances of the remote monitoring functions and the cardiac pacing system itself will be measured, and safety will be monitored during the whole clinical investigation duration.