Overly restrictive clinical trial eligibility criteria can reduce generalizability, slow enrollment, and disproportionately exclude historically underrepresented populations. The eligibility criteria for 196 Alzheimer\'s Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) trials funded by the National Institute on Aging were analyzed to identify common criteria and their potential to disproportionately exclude participants by race/ethnicity. The trials were categorized by type (48 Phase I/II pharmacological, 7 Phase III/IV pharmacological, 128 non-pharmacological, 7 diagnostic, and 6 neuropsychiatric) and target population (51 AD/ADRD, 58 Mild Cognitive Impairment, 25 at-risk, and 62 cognitively normal). Eligibility criteria were coded into the following categories: Medical, Neurologic, Psychiatric, and Procedural. A literature search was conducted to describe the prevalence of disparities for eligibility criteria for African Americans/Black (AA/B), Hispanic/Latino (H/L), American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NH/PI) populations. The trials had a median of 15 criteria. The most frequent criterion were age cutoffs (87% of trials), specified neurologic (65%), and psychiatric disorders (61%). Underrepresented groups could be disproportionately excluded by 16 eligibility categories; 42% of trials specified English-speakers only in their criteria. Most trials (82%) contain poorly operationalized criteria (i.e., criteria not well defined that can have multiple interpretations/means of implementation) and criteria that may reduce racial/ethnic enrollment diversity.

UNASSIGNED: Discrimination, bullying, and harassment in medicine have been reported internationally, but exposures for Indigenous medical students and physicians, and for racism specifically, remain less examined.
UNASSIGNED: To examine the prevalence of racism, discrimination, bullying, and harassment for Māori medical students and physicians in New Zealand and associations with demographic and clinical characteristics.
UNASSIGNED: This cross-sectional study used data from an anonymous national survey of Māori medical students and physicians in New Zealand in late 2021 and early 2022. Data were analyzed from March 2022 to April 2024.
UNASSIGNED: Age, gender, marginalized status (ie, in addition to being Māori, belonging to other groups traditionally marginalized or underrepresented in medicine), year of medical school, year of graduation, and main work role.
UNASSIGNED: Direct and witnessed racism, discrimination, bullying, and harassment were measured as any experience in the last year and ever. Any exposure to negative comments about social groups and witnessing discriminatory treatment toward Māori patients or whānau (extended family). Considering leaving medicine, including because of mistreatment, was measured.
UNASSIGNED: Overall, 205 Māori medical students (median [IQR] age, 23.1 [21.6-24.3] years; 137 [67.2%] women) and 200 physicians (median [IQR] age, 36.6 [30.1-45.3] years; 123 [62.8%] women) responded. Direct and witnessed exposure to racism (184 students [91.5%]; 176 physicians [90.7%]) and discrimination (176 students [85.9%]; 179 physicians [89.5%]) ever in medical education, training, or work environments was common. Ever exposure to witnessed and direct bullying (123 students [66.5%]; 150 physicians [89.3%]) and harassment (73 students [39.5%]; 112 physicians [66.7%]) was also common. Most respondents reported witnessing Māori patients or their whānau being treated badly in clinical settings, in direct interactions (67 students [57.8%]; 112 physicians [58.9%]) or behind their backs (87 students [75.0%]; 138 physicians [72.6%]). One-quarter of Māori medical students (45 students), and 37.0% of physicians (61 physicians) had considered leaving or taken a break from medicine because of these experiences. Additional marginalized statuses were significantly associated with any direct experience of mistreatment in the last year for students and physicians. Exposure to some forms of mistreatment were also significantly associated with higher likelihood of thinking about leaving or taking a break from medicine for physicians.
UNASSIGNED: In this study, Māori medical students and physicians reported high exposure to multiple forms of racism, discrimination, bullying, and harassment in medical education, training, and work environments, requiring an urgent response from medical institutions.

Indigenous community-controlled health care organizations provide timely, sustained, and culturally safe care. However, their expertise is often excluded from health professional education. This limits the transfer of knowledges and protocols to future practitioners-those positioned to shape health care systems and practices that could achieve the health rights of Indigenous people and reduce health and social inequities. In Australia, despite national government commitments to transforming curricula, services, and systems related to Indigenous health, health care training organizations such as universities generally have low numbers of Indigenous staff and few strategies to engage Indigenous experts. The authors of this paper are part of the Bunya Project, an Indigenous-led participatory action research effort designed to support non-Indigenous university staff and curriculum development through partnerships with Indigenous community-controlled organizations. We conducted 24 interviews with Indigenous individuals to ascertain recommendations for health care curricula. Three themes emerged: (1) role-modeling and leadership of Indigenous-controlled health organizations; (2) specific learnings for health professionals; and (3) achieving human rights in practice. Interviews also highlighted the need for health professionals\' extension beyond clinical caregiving, and staff and students\' development of knowledge, skills, and actions regarding client self-determination in order to promote clients\' rights across all aspects of their health care. Critical self-reflection by health professionals is a foundational individual-level skill necessary for cultural safety.

Hepatitis C (HCV) reinfection studies have not focused on primary healthcare services in Australia, where priority populations including people who inject drugs (PWID) typically engage in healthcare. We aimed to describe the incidence of HCV reinfection and associated risk factors in a cohort of people most at risk of reinfection in a real-world community setting. We conducted a secondary analysis of routinely collected HCV testing and treatment data from treatment episodes initiated with direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy between October 2015 and June 2021. The overall proportion of clients (N = 413) reinfected was 9% (N = 37), and the overall incidence rate of HCV reinfection was 9.5/100PY (95% CI: 6.3-14.3). Reinfection incidence rates varied by sub-group and were highest for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people (20.4/100PY; 95% CI: 12.1-34.4). Among PWID (N= 321), only Aboriginality was significantly associated with reinfection (AOR: 2.73, 95% CI: 1.33-5.60, p = 0.006). High rates of HCV reinfection in populations with multiple vulnerabilities and continued drug use, especially among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, highlight the need for ongoing regular HCV testing and retreatment in order to achieve HCV elimination. A priority is resourcing testing and treatment for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Our findings support the need for novel and holistic healthcare strategies for PWID and the upscaling of Indigenous cultural approaches and interventions.

The Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT) demonstrated that substantial weight loss and remission from type 2 diabetes can be achieved with low-energy total diet replacement and behavioural support. However, the acceptability of the DiRECT intervention in diverse populations with strong cultural emphases on food and shared eating remains unclear. We conducted a qualitative study nested within a pilot randomised controlled trial of DiRECT in one Māori (the Indigenous people of New Zealand) primary care provider in Aotearoa New Zealand. Participants with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, obesity, and a desire to lose weight were randomised to either dietitian-supported usual care or the dietitian-supported DiRECT intervention for twelve months. The DiRECT intervention included three months of total diet replacement, then food reintroduction and supported weight loss maintenance. At three and twelve months, semi-structured interviews explored the acceptability of DiRECT and participants\' experiences of each intervention. Interview transcripts from 25 participants (aged 48 ± 10 years, 76% female, 78% Māori or Pacific) at three months and 15 participants at twelve months were analysed. Participants viewed their pre-enrolment selves as unhealthy people with poor eating habits and desired professional weight loss support. For DiRECT participants, the total diet replacement phase was challenging but well-received, due to rapid improvements in weight and health. Food reintroduction and weight loss maintenance each presented unique challenges requiring effective strategies and adaptability. All participants considered individualised and empathetic dietetic support crucial to success. Sociocultural factors influencing success were experienced in both interventions: family and social networks provided support and motivation; however, eating-related norms were identified as challenges. The DiRECT intervention was considered an acceptable approach to weight loss in participants with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes with strong cultural emphases on food and shared eating. Our findings highlight the importance of individualised and culturally relevant behavioural support for effective weight loss and weight loss maintenance.

BACKGROUND: Reports of escalated discrimination experiences among Asian American and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) continue.
METHODS: Using the original and follow-up surveys of the COVID-19 Effects on the Mental and Physical Health of AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islanders) Survey Study (COMPASS I and COMPASS II) (n = 3177), we examined changes over approximately a 1-year period in discrimination experiences attributable to being AAPI and factors associated with worse mental health outcomes.
RESULTS: Experiences of discrimination remained high in COMPASS II with 60.6% (of participants (compared to 60.2% among the same people in COMPASS I) reporting one or more discrimination experiences, and 28.6% reporting worse mental health outcomes. Experiences of discrimination were associated with modest but significant increase in the odds of worse mental health: adjusted OR 1.02 (95% CI 1.01-1.04). Being younger, being of Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander or Hmong descent (relative to Asian Indian), and having spent 50% or less of their lifetime in the US (vs. US born), were significantly associated with worse mental health.
CONCLUSIONS: The fall-out from the pandemic continues to adversely impact AANHPI communities. These findings may help influence policy initiatives to mitigate its effects and support interventions designed to improve mental health outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Indigenous people in Australia experience far poorer health than non-Indigenous Australians. A growing body of research suggests that Indigenous people who are strong in their cultural identity experience better health than those who are not. Yet little is known about how Indigenous people create and maintain strong cultural identities in the contemporary context. This paper explores how Indigenous people in south-eastern Australia create and maintain strong cultural identities to support their health and wellbeing.
METHODS: Data were collected from 44 Indigenous people living in the south-eastern Australian state of Victoria via yarning. Yarning is a cultural mode of conversation that privileges Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and being. Yarning participants were selected for their prominence within Victorian Indigenous health services and/or their prominence within the Victorian Indigenous community services sector more broadly. Due to the restrictions of COVID-19, yarns were conducted individually online via Zoom. Data were analysed employing constructivist grounded theory, which was the overarching qualitative research methodology.
RESULTS: All yarning participants considered maintaining a strong cultural identity as vital to maintaining their health and wellbeing. They did this via four main ways: knowing one\'s Mob and knowing one\'s Country; connecting with one\'s own Mob and with one\'s own Country; connecting with Community and Country more broadly; and connecting with the more creative and/or expressive elements of Culture. Importantly, these practices are listed in order of priority. Indigenous people who either do not know their Mob or Country, or for whom the connections with their own Mob and their own Country are weak, may therefore be most vulnerable. This includes Stolen Generations survivors, their descendants, and others impacted by historical and contemporary child removal practices.
CONCLUSIONS: The yarns reveal some of the myriad practical ways that Indigenous people maintain a strong cultural identity in contemporary south-eastern Australia. While programs designed to foster connections to Community, Country and/or Culture may benefit all Indigenous participants, those most disconnected from their Ancestral roots may benefit most. Further research is required to determine how best to support Indigenous Victorians whose connections to their own Mob and their own Country are unable to be (re)built.

BACKGROUND: The Aotearoa New Zealand COVID-19 pandemic response has been hailed as a success story, however, there are concerns about how equitable it has been. This study explored the experience of a collective of Māori health and social service providers in the greater Wellington region of Aotearoa New Zeland delivering COVID-19 responses.
METHODS: The study was a collaboration between a large urban Māori health and social service provider, Tākiri Mai Te Ata whānau ora collective, and public health researchers in Aotearoa New Zealand. Two online workshops were held with staff of the Māori service provider, collectively developing a qualitative causal loop diagram and generating systemic insights. The causal loop diagram showed interactions of various factors affecting COVID-19 response for supporting whānau (Māori family/households) at a community level. The iceberg model of systems thinking offered insights for action in understanding causal loop diagrams, emphasizing impactful changes at less visible levels.
RESULTS: Six interacting subsystems were identified within the causal loop diagram that highlighted the systemic barriers and opportunities for effective COVID-19 response to Māori whānau. The medical model of health service produces difficulties for delivering kaupapa Māori services. Along with pre-existing vulnerability and health system gaps, these difficulties increased the risk of negative impacts on Māori whānau as COVID-19 cases increased. The study highlighted a critical need to create equal power in health perspectives, reducing dominance of the individual-focused medical model for better support of whānau during future pandemics.
CONCLUSIONS: The study provided insights on systemic traps, their interactions and delays contributing to a relatively less effective COVID-19 response for Māori whānau and offered insights for improvement. In the light of recent changes in the Aotearoa New Zealand health system, the findings emphasize the urgent need for structural reform to address power imbalances and establish kaupapa Māori approach and equity as a norm in service planning and delivery.

BACKGROUND: Quality smoking data is crucial for assessing smoking-related health risk and eligibility for interventions related to that risk. Smoking information collected in primary care practices (PCPs) is a major data source; however, little is known about the PCP smoking data quality. This project compared PCP smoking data to that collected in the Māori and Pacific Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) screening programme.
METHODS: A two stage review was conducted. In Stage 1, data quality was assessed by comparing the PCP smoking data recorded close to AAA screening episodes with the data collected from participants at the AAA screening session. Inter-rater reliability was analysed using Cohen\'s kappa scores. In Stage 2, an audit of longitudinal smoking status was conducted, of a subset of participants potentially misclassified in Stage 1. Data were compared in three groups: current smoker (smoke at least monthly), ex-smoker (stopped > 1 month ago) and never smoker (smoked < 100 cigarettes in lifetime).
RESULTS: Of the 1841 people who underwent AAA screening, 1716 (93%) had PCP smoking information. Stage 1 PCP smoking data showed 82% concordance with the AAA data (adjusted kappa 0.76). Fewer current or ex-smokers were recorded in PCP data. In the Stage 2 analysis of discordant and missing data (N = 313), 212 were enrolled in the 29 participating PCPs, and of these 13% were deceased and 41% had changed PCP. Of the 93 participants still enrolled in the participating PCPs, smoking status had been updated for 43%. Data on quantity, duration, or quit date of smoking were largely missing in PCP records. The AAA data of ex-smokers who were classified as never smokers in the Stage 2 PCP data (N = 27) showed a median smoking cessation duration of 32 years (range 0-50 years), with 85% (N = 23) having quit more than 15 years ago.
CONCLUSIONS: PCP smoking data quality compared with the AAA data is consistent with international findings. PCP data captured fewer current and ex-smokers, suggesting ongoing improvement is important. Intervention programmes based on smoking status should consider complementary mechanisms to ensure eligible individuals are not missed from programme invitation.

BACKGROUND: Vision and hearing impairments are highly prevalent and have a significant impact on physical, psychological and social wellbeing. There is a need for accurate, contemporary national data on the prevalence, risk factors and impacts of vision and hearing loss in Australian adults.
OBJECTIVE: The Australian Eye and Ear Health Survey (AEEHS) aims to determine the prevalence, risk factors and impacts of vision and hearing loss in both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous older adults.
METHODS: The AEEHS is a population-based cross-sectional survey which will include 5,000 participants (3250 non-Indigenous aged 50 years or older and 1750 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 40 years or older) from 30 sites covering urban and rural/regional geographic areas, selected using a multi-stage, random cluster sampling strategy. Questionnaires will be administered to collect data on socio-demographic, medical, ocular and ontological history. The testing battery includes assessment of blood pressure, blood sugar, anthropometry, visual acuity (presenting, unaided, pinhole and best-corrected), refraction, tonometry, slit lamp and dilated eye examination, ocular imaging including optical coherence tomography (OCT), OCT-angiography and retinal photography, and automated visual fields. Audiometry, tympanometry and video otoscopy will also be performed. The primary outcomes are age-standardised prevalence of cause-specific vision and hearing impairment. Secondary outcomes are prevalence of non-blinding eye diseases (including dry eye disease), patterns in health service utilisation, universal health coverage metrics, risk factors for vision and hearing impairment, and impact on quality of life.