Medication non-adherence in older adults with long-term conditions contributes to significant morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs. While adherence support tools exist, many interventions fail to reach those most at risk. Automated medication dispensers (AMDs) show promise in improving adherence and health outcomes, but their integration into routine community pharmacy practice remains underexplored. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of an AMD intervention with SMS reminders in enhancing medication adherence among older adults and to evaluate how this technology can be integrated into community pharmacy workflows.

This randomised controlled trial involves 144 participants recruited from eight community pharmacies who will be randomised to receive either the AMD intervention or usual care. Primary outcomes include medication adherence, measured through pharmacy records and self-report at baseline, 3 and 6 months. Secondary outcomes include Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, health-related quality of life (SF-12), and healthcare resource use. A nested mixed methods process evaluation will explore uptake, acceptability and implementation.

The study protocol has been approved by the University of Bedfordshire Institute for Health Research Ethics Committee (IHREC1039), the NHS and the local authority Research Governance and Research Ethics Committee (NHS REC reference: 25/EE/0026). The findings will be disseminated via a final report, peer-reviewed journal publications and presentations at relevant conferences.

ISRCTN18849739.

The global population of older adults has grown at an unprecedented rate, and projections indicate that the number of older adults will continue to increase considerably in the coming decades. The clinical complexity of older adults living in retirement homes, also known as assisted living settings, is also increasing, and the regulations to ensure quality and safety standards in retirement homes are highly variable. The purpose of this scoping review is to map and summarise the methods used to monitor and measure the safety of older adults living in retirement homes, providing an overview of existing approaches and areas requiring further investigation.

This scoping review will follow the five stages of the Arksey and O’Malley scoping review process. We will report this review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. A comprehensive search of four electronic databases (MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCO) and Web of Science Core Collection) will be performed, and reference lists of included articles will be searched. We will conduct a two-step screening process, data extraction and analysis of the included studies. We will include all primary study designs that report on safety measurement and monitoring of any type of harms. Relevant grey literature will also be identified. We will exclude studies that only report results from facilities providing 24-hour skilled nursing care or specialised care services, and those not published in English or French. This protocol is registered on the Open Science Framework (osf.io/8rheq).

No ethical approval is needed for the review, and we plan to present the results at research conferences and in a peer-reviewed article. Our findings may inform future research studies that seek to support and improve safety practices in retirement homes.

In Canada, many families want to breastfeed, but there are several common challenges they may encounter. Currently, 91% of Canadian families initiate breastfeeding after giving birth, yet only 38% of babies are breastfed exclusively to 6 months. In 1991, the Breastfeeding Committee for Canada (BCC) was established to implement the World Health Organization’s Ten-Step Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, a series of evidence-based in-hospital practices to support families to breastfeed. Then, in recognition of the need to support breastfeeding beyond the hospital setting, the BCC expanded the Baby-Friendly Initiative (BFI) to apply the Ten Steps to both hospitals and community health settings. However, uptake of the BFI Ten Steps in community settings has been low and methodology on how to optimise implementation of the Ten Steps in community is not well developed. Therefore, the objective of this project is to develop and evaluate a quality improvement collaborative with 25 community health services from across Canada to learn how to best support the implementation of the BFI Ten Steps in community, with the ultimate goal of improving breastfeeding outcomes.

This protocol describes the activities of the Community Baby-Friendly Initiative Collaborative (CBFI-C) and the methods used to evaluate its effectiveness. We will use the Institute for Healthcare Information Breakthrough Series (IHI-BTS) model, a proven quality improvement model that has been widely used in clinical settings, but is not yet widely used in community settings. The IHI-BTS combines three virtual learning sessions with action cycles that allow the participating sites time to test and track small practice changes. Sites will be asked to track care indicator and breastfeeding outcome data, engage in monthly webinars, receive coaching from trained mentors, participate in focus groups and participate in a final summative workshop. We will use a multi-site case study approach, combining aggregate care indicator data and qualitative data from webinars, focus groups and workshops to evaluate how the CBFI-C model supports community sites in the process of implementing the BFI Ten Steps.

Ethics approval for this evaluation was obtained from the CHIPER Health Research Ethics Board (Number HS26947-H2025:157)). The results of the CBFI-C evaluation will be shared in a report, peer-reviewed publications and presentations to government and academic audiences. The findings will inform effective quality improvement strategies to enhance uptake of the BFI in community health settings.

The aetiology of eating disorders (EDs) is complex, involving an interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Children at familial high risk (FHR) for EDs demonstrate increased risk of developing EDs themselves compared with children born to parents without EDs, though the majority remain unaffected. The BLOOM study is an FHR study that aims to identify biological, neurocognitive and psychosocial risk and protective pathways to EDs. Results of this study will help identify trait markers of EDs, inform targeted preventive intervention strategies and clarify how to mitigate genetic risk of EDs.

This prospective cohort study will enrol 510 children aged 8–10 years, including 360 at FHR for developing EDs (comprising 120 children each from mothers with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge ED) and 150 children not at FHR. Participants will be recruited over 2 years and followed up every 2 years. Data collection will include dual X-ray absorptiometry scans to evaluate body composition, saliva samples for genotyping, neurocognitive testing, self and parent-reported questionnaires and semistructured diagnostic interviews of psychopathology and well-being. Optional data collection will include fasting blood samples, stool samples and brain MRI scans. Mothers and secondary caregivers will complete questionnaires regarding family functioning and their mental health.

The study has been approved by the Danish Data Protection Agency (p-2023-14826) and the Regional Ethics Committee of Health Research of the Capital Region of Denmark (H-23043100). Written consent will be obtained from all participants. Results will be disseminated at scientific conferences, in peer-reviewed publications, PhD dissertations and to relevant stakeholders.