JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting

Pediatric asthma is the most common chronic illness among children in the Netherlands. Scheduled hospital visits provide limited insight into therapy adherence and inhalation technique, which are critical for disease control. Smart inhalers that provide immediate feedback may offer a solution for monitoring and improving these parameters at home, leading to better asthma control.

Smartwatch activity trackers are devices that measure physical activity levels with features that aim to encourage physically active behaviors. These devices have shown promise for increasing physical activity levels and reducing sedentary behaviors among school-aged children, adolescents, and adults. Recently, commercially available products have been adapted so that they are suitable for use by preschool-aged children. However, it is unclear whether the intended use of these devices is feasible and effective in young children.

Invasive meningococcal disease has a high fatality rate and can lead to severe long-term health issues. In Europe, serogroup B meningococcal disease (MenB) accounts for over half of invasive meningococcal disease cases. In Italy, MenB vaccination is recommended for all newborns, but uptake is below the Ministry of Health Vaccination Plan target (uptake: 80.91%; target: 90%).

Excessive infant crying affects approximately 20% of families and can lead to parental distress, anxiety, and strained relationships. Despite its prevalence, many parents report feeling misunderstood and unsupported during these challenging periods.

Background: Managing a child undergoing Growth Hormone treatment (GHt) can be burdensome for the families, which can lead to psychological problems and poor treatment adherence. Adhera Caring Digital Program (ACDP) is a mobile-based digital health intervention designed to support the physical and mental well-being of families of individuals with chronic conditions.

It is challenging to recruit vulnerable populations such as pregnant individuals, particularly during the perinatal period which involves significant life changes and stressful situations that may create barriers to participation. Barriers to participation are even more prominent in historically marginalized populations, such as minoritized and low-income populations. Current literature is limited on recruitment methods and specific activities may be best to recruit diverse pregnant individuals into online studies for the promotion of perinatal mental health.

Parents of preterm born (PT) infants often face challenges in transitioning from hospital to home, requiring reliable and accessible information to support their caregiving. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions have the potential to supplement post-discharge education and empower parents by providing tailored, evidence-based information.

Standard urotherapy for childhood incontinence involves traditional tools like paper bladder diaries, timer watches, wetting alarms and uroflowmeters. However, little is known about how these tools are experienced by today’s digitally native children.

More than 5 million US adolescents experience mental or behavioral health conditions, yet two-thirds remain untreated, and suicide is the second leading cause of death. These gaps highlight the urgent need for accessible care. Digital mental health interventions that integrate measurement-based care (MBC) and personalized mental health care provider matching offer a promising solution, but few studies have examined their real-world impact among adolescents at elevated suicide risk.

Background: The healthcare system faces challenges of inconsistent quality, inefficiency, and rising costs. Fragmented applications of Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS), Clinical Pathways (CP), and Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) payment systems have limited their synergistic potential.

Health care digitalization and pediatric information and communication technology have facilitated the use of telemedicine and digital communication tools in pediatric practice, improving accessibility and efficiency. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a promising tool in medicine. However, the rapid adoption of these technologies has raised concerns regarding reliability and ethics.

Social Media groups (SMG) enable individuals with rare disease to connect with one another, and access instant support and advice. Accelerated diagnoses of genetic neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) over the last decade have driven rapid expansion of gene specific SMG membership. Limited literature regarding parental use of SMGs in the context of managing their child’s NDD exists.