Perspective Of Participants Research Articles

Participant Perspectives on the Implementation of a School-Linked Text-Message Intervention to Improve Pediatric Asthma Medication Adherence.

Background: Poor adherence to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) is a significant challenge in pediatric asthma, contributing to health inequities. Text-message reminders for ICS therapy are an evidence-based approach that improves pediatric asthma medication adherence, yet has not been widely adopted into practice, partly due to lack of (1) participant input on design and implementation and (2) use of sustainable community linkages. Remote Asthma Link™ (RAL) seeks to fill this gap as a school-linked text-message intervention wherein parents of children with poorly controlled asthma received daily, 2-way text-message reminders for preventive inhaler use. Responses were shared with school nurses who conducted remote check-ins with families. Enrolled children, largely from underserved backgrounds, experienced improvements in medication adherence and asthma health outcomes. While initial results were promising, we have yet to elicit participant input to refine the protocol for more widespread implementation. Objective: Examine participant perspectives on barriers and facilitators of RAL implementation. Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted May-June 2022 with intervention participants: 10 parents, 7 school nurses, and 4 pediatric providers (n = 21) until thematic saturation was reached. Interview transcripts were coded using thematic analysis. Results: Several facilitators for RAL implementation were identified, including ease of use and accessibility, personal connection to the school nurse, and receipt of a visual notification for habit formation. Barriers included challenges with school nurses reaching parents, poor understanding of program expectations, and lack of reimbursement structure. Participant-proposed solutions to barriers included utilizing alternate communication methods (eg, social media), educational sessions, and meeting with payors to consider reimbursement models. Conclusion: RAL is a school-linked text-message intervention demonstrating promise in improving outcomes and equity in asthma care. Key implementation facilitators, barriers, and proposed solutions will inform protocol adaptations to promote successful implementation of this and other text-message interventions into clinical practice.

Preference for hotline versus mobile application/countdown-based mobile overdose response services: a qualitative study.

In response to the exacerbated rates of morbidity and mortality associated with the overlapping overdose and COVID-19 epidemics, novel strategies have been developed, implemented, operationalized and scaled to reduce the harms resulting from this crisis. Since the emergence of mobile overdose response services (MORS), two strategies have aimed to help reduce the mortality associated with acute overdose including staffed hotline-based services and unstaffed timer-based services. In this article, we aim to gather the perspectives of various key interest groups on these technologies to determine which might best support service users. Forty-seven participants from various interested groups including people who use substances who have and have not used MORS, healthcare workers, family members, harm reduction employees and MORS operators participated in semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were coded and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Four major themes emerged regarding participant perspectives on the differences between services, namely differences in connection, perceived safety, privacy and accessibility, alongside features that are recommended for MORS in the future. Overall, participants noted that individuals who use substances vary in their desire for connection during a substance use session offered by hotline and timer-based service modalities. Participants perceived hotline-based approaches to be more reliable and thus potentiallysafer than their timer-based counterparts but noted that access to technology is a limitation of both approaches.

The influence of recommendation algorithm's information flow on targeted advertising audience's coping behavior

Targeted advertising equipped with a recommendation algorithm can achieve accurate matching between users and recommended content, but overly precise recommendations may exacerbate negative audience reactions or behaviors. Improving the transparency of algorithm recommendation is one of the ways to address audience concerns or skepticism, and transparency guarantees the audience's right to know and thus brings more trust, which will reduce the audience's negative behavior. But increased transparency may also make the audience feel pressured or threatened, and requiring more cognitive and behavioral effort, which was called coping behavior. In order to clarify the relationship between the transparency of the algorithm recommendation and the audience's coping behavior, based on the persuasion theory, this study discusses the mechanism of the influence of the characteristics of the algorithm recommendation information flow on the audience's coping behavior of targeted advertising from the perspective of the flow mode and transmission principle of information. Based on the data of 120 online pretests and 297 formal tests, the results show that the perceived trust and perceived threat caused by the information flow characteristics of the algorithm recommendation jointly determine the possible coping behaviors of targeted advertising audiences. Additionally, users' self-efficacy regulates the relationship between mental process and coping behavior. Different from previous studies on audience coping behaviors of targeted ads, which mainly start from the perspective of participants and advertising content, this research tries to start from the perspective of information flow. The research results demystify the relationship between recommendation algorithm information flow and the audience's coping behavior, and enrich the algorithmic persuasion framework. The research results have reference value for the improvement of personalized recommendation effect, and provide a new way to further study the transparency of algorithm recommendation in the field of consumer behavior. Meanwhile, it also provides suggestions for the practices of platforms and advertisers in practice.

Accessibility and Affordability Impacts of Half Price Public Transport Fares in Aotearoa New Zealand

Transport costs can constitute a large proportion of household budgets and restrict travel. Reduced or free public transport fares are one strategy to address these affordability and accessibility challenges. We analyse data from a 2022 transport survey to investigate participants perspectives and experiences of half price public transport fares in Ōtautahi Christchurch, a city in Aotearoa New Zealand. We find that those experiencing transport poverty are likely to have benefitted in terms of widening access and reduced financial stress.

Bowel Preparation Burden, Rectal Pain and Abdominal Discomfort: Perspective of Participants Undergoing CT Colonography and Colonoscopy.

This study aimed to evaluate bowel preparation burden, rectal pain and abdominal discomfort levels and to determine the association between demographic characteristics and those levels among participants undergoing CT colonography and colonoscopy. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in eligible Thai citizens who consented to participate all four visits of a free colorectal cancer screening protocol. Three levels (mild, moderate and severe) of burden, pain and discomfort were used to ask the perspective of participants at the final visit, one week after undergoing those two procedures. Data from 1,271 participants completed for analyses - females 815 (64.1%), males 456 (35.9%). The majority of participants experienced mild burden, pain and discomfort. Association between characteristic groups and burden levels differed regarding own income, chronic disease and laxative. Between characteristic groups and pain and discomfort levels differed regarding own income and chronic disease. Participants without their own income rated severe burden lower than those who had (p<0.001), but those without chronic disease rated moderate burden lower than who had (p=0.003). Participants prepared bowel with spilt-dose of PEG rated moderate burden higher than those who prepared with NaP (p<0.001). Participants undergoing CT colonography without their own income and presenting no chronic disease faced severe rectal pain lower than those who had (p<0.001 and p=0.04). Participants without their own income rated moderate and severe abdominal discomfort lower than those who had (p<0.01 and p=0.008). Participants undergoing colonoscopy without their own income and no chronic diseases faced severe rectal pain lower than those who had (p<0.001 and p=0.007). Participants without their own income and no chronic disease rated severe abdominal discomfort lower than those who had (p<0.001 and p=0.005). Evaluating the perspectives of customers alongside quality improvement and innovation to reduce unpleasant experiences remains needed in CT colonography and colonoscopy to promote CRC screening.

Mindful awareness and resilience skills for adolescents (MARS-A): a mixed-methods study of a mindfulness-based intervention for a heterogeneous adolescent clinical population.

Mindful Awareness and Resilience Skills for Adolescents (MARS-A) is a mindfulness-based intervention adapted for the adolescent population. While previous studies have explored the benefits of MARS-A in various single-diagnosis populations, the aim of this study was to assess MARS-A for a heterogenous clinical adolescent population with mental health and/or chronic diagnoses, focusing on the underlying suffering present in all these conditions rather than its effects on a single diagnosis itself. Qualitative data was collected through interviews to understand post-intervention participant perspectives and experiences. Quantitative data was collected through measures to investigate preliminary secondary outcomes. After participating in MARS-A, participants reported qualitative benefits in enhanced well-being, including coping with difficult emotions and managing sleep and/or pain. Quantitative results showed a reduction in functional disability, psychological distress, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms; increase in positive affect; and benefit in coping with pain and chronic conditions. MARS-A shows great potential in a heterogeneous clinical adolescent population.

Assessment of transdisciplinarity by its participants: the case of Tertúlias do Montado, Alentejo, Portugal

AbstractEvaluation plays a pivotal role in transdisciplinary (TD) research, often discussed during funding stages or when assessing project impacts. A few studies delve into the participant perspective when examining the quality of transdisciplinarity. Our work contributes to this area of assessment. Rather than providing a definitive definition of transdisciplinarity, we developed a questionnaire to evaluate a set of TD principles within a specific TD initiative. We collected insights from 100 individuals out of a pool of 200 participants engaged in a TD initiative since 2016. Given the long-term nature of the case study, our sample included both frequent and occasional participants. Using non-parametric statistical, we concluded that frequent participants express higher satisfaction with their involvement, identify more outcomes stemming from their participation, and assign greater importance to TD principles. These findings highlight the significant impact of investing in long-term TD initiatives. Additionally, our questionnaires featured open-ended questions to capture participants’ individual definition of the initiative, along with their perceived benefits and drawbacks. Through content analysis, we identified two distinct discourses: positivism and postpositivism. The positivist discourse predominantly features male participants over 60 years of age, primarily from the research community. These participants express lower satisfaction with their participation and assign less value to TD principles. We found no association between positivism/postpositivism and participation frequency (i.e., frequent/casual). This suggests that these two discourses can coexist and interact within a TD environment. Nevertheless, the perceived value of TD is not uniform across these groups, indicating that TD may not align with everyone’s objectives, even in complex contexts where the approach is considered essential.

Usefulness of working with a person-centred intervention in a group: Perspectives from facilitators and persons with mental illness.

When implementing new interventions into clinical practice, it is of great importance to investigate the implementation process to better understand factors promoting and impeding the implementation to stimulate engagement and sustainability of the intervention. It is essential to consider perspectives both from the health professionals delivering the intervention and those receiving the intervention to be open to their suggestions for enhancing the dissemination and implementation of the intervention. The aim of the study was to evaluate adoption, acceptabilityand appropriateness of a person-centred group intervention (PCGI) from the perspectives of facilitators and participants with mental illness in mental health outpatient services right after delivery. A qualitative interview study design was used. Interview data from three individual interviews, one group interview with facilitatorsand 16 individual interviews with participants were analyzed through content analysis. As described in the following three categories, the facilitators and participants found the PCGI overall useful and meaningful to deliver and receive: (1) application of a PCGI in clinical practice, (2) balancing the facilitator roleand (3) establishing and maintaining a safe relationship. Facilitators and participants found the form and structure of the PCGI useful and meaningful. Some participants dropped out as they did not feel comfortable in a group setting. The components in the sessions, questions on cards and reflectionsheets together with peer-to-peer interactions provided a safe environment. However, facilitation from facilitators requires appropriate skills and qualifications, which must be provided by the hospital together with supervision and the possibility for peer feedback and exchange of experiences.

Participant experiences in a combination HIV cure-related trial with extended analytical treatment interruption in San Francisco, United States

Background There is limited systematic information available about the perspectives of participants enrolled in intensive combination HIV cure-related trials inclusive of an extended analytical treatment interruption (ATI). Objective To assess and understand experiences of people with HIV involved in a combination HIV cure-related trial with an extended ATI. Methods The trial included five interventions and was followed by an ATI lasting up to 52 wk. From 2022 – 2023, we conducted in-depth interviews with study participants following their extended ATIs. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed via conventional thematic analysis. Results We interviewed seven participants. The majority were male, White, and non-Hispanic, with a median age of 37 years. Trust in the research team, scientific altruism and hope of becoming a post-intervention controller were key motivators for joining the trial. Interviewees reported being satisfied with their decision to participate in the trial and the extended ATI. Most recounted feelings of worry related to viral rebound during the ATI. Participants reported both defeat and relief with ART restart. Four faced challenges with protecting partners from HIV during their ATI, such as trying to find out if their partner(s) were using pre-exposure prophylaxis. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate potential improvements for future ATI trial participant experiences, such as more robust resources for psychosocial support and partner protections. Dedicating greater effort to understanding participant ATI experiences can inform the design of future participant-centered HIV cure trial protocols.

Elevating world language teacher leaders: Participant perspectives of the Leadership Initiative for Language Learning (LILL)

AbstractThis study investigates the participant experiences and perceived impacts of the Language Initiative for Language Learning (LILL). By exploring the voices of 11 LILL participants through a qualitative case study design, the findings highlight how world language teacher leaders participated in and experienced LILL as a space for leadership growth and perceived the program as having a transformational impact on their leadership identity, mindset, and skill development. While the findings situate LILL as an effective and impactful program, we discuss the need for deeper understandings of world language (WL) teacher leadership in discipline‐specific ways and conclude with suggestions for proactive approaches for WL teacher leadership programming.

Experiences of healthcare practitioners providing nutrition care to people with cancer in New Zealand: A qualitative study.

Aim: To explore the perspectives and experiences of healthcare practitioners in providing nutrition care to people with cancer in New Zealand. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 New Zealand healthcare professionals (HCPs) practicing in specialist secondary and tertiary cancer care (both public and private) who had previously completed an online survey about nutrition in cancer care. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, and thematic analysis was undertaken. Results: Participants identified nutrition as important in cancer care, from diagnosis to survivorship, in order to maximise recovery and ongoing health. While participants reported that the best person to provide high-quality individualised nutrition care is a dietitian, other HCPs also have a role in nutrition care. Limited nutrition care is currently available, especially for those in rural areas, which impacts health and equity in cancer care. Participants identified a need for increased dietitian capacity in the workforce as well as a need for nutrition resources that were accessible and appropriate. Conclusion: The perspective of participants was that more must be done to provide nutrition care as part of cancer care in New Zealand to improve health and wellbeing among people with cancer.

Patient, parent and carer perspectives surrounding expedited paediatric epilepsy surgery

ObjectiveMost paediatric epilepsies with MRI visible lesions do not respond to antiseizure pharmacotherapy. Such medication resistance, which often takes years to become formally defined, is commonly required for surgical candidacy. Expedited surgical referral at lesional epilepsy diagnosis may result in better seizure, cognitive and developmental prognoses. This study explored the views of patients, parents and carers regarding epilepsy surgery, treatment priorities, and participation in a proposed expedited surgery trial. Methods205 patients, parents and carers (61% UK-based, 26% North American) responded to electronic surveys from February to May 2022. Participants were recruited through social media sites, epilepsy charities and societies. Categorical choice and free-text questions were used to investigate participant perspectives, and Pearson’s chi-squared test was utilised to detect meaningful differences amongst respondent subgroups. ResultsAlmost 90% of respondents who had experienced epilepsy surgery (either themselves or their child) reported seizure cessation or reduction. Postoperative outcome measures prioritised most frequently were seizure freedom (66%), quality of life (47%), seizure severity (30%), seizure frequency (28%) and independence (27%). Most participants support expedited surgery in suitable patients (65%), with just over half (51%) willing to participate in the proposed trial. Many participants (37%) were undecided, often due to fears surrounding neurosurgery. Subgroup perspectives were broadly similar, with more parents and caregivers favouring expedited surgery compared to patients (p = .016) and more UK-based participants willing to take part in an expedited surgery trial compared to those from North America (p = .01). ConclusionsPatients, parents and carers are open to considering expedited surgery for lesional epilepsies and would support a trial exploring this approach. Priorities from treatment were largely similar between participant subgroups, with seizure, quality of life and neuropsychological outcomes ranked highly. Accounting for these preferences will facilitate the delivery of a trial that is patient- and caregiver-focused, enhancing feasibility, satisfaction and benefit for prospective participants.

'To loosen up and talk': Patients´ and facilitators´ experiences of discovery group sessions from the Tidal Model as an introduction before engaging in a person-centred group intervention.

Treatment groups in Mental Health Service is cost-effective, increases patients´ self-understanding and stimulate change Research shows that people with mental illness have different barriers to attend group sessions which often originates from a lack of trust in other people, but it is known that the possibility to build gradual trust among the participants encourages attendance. This study is based on the experience from outpatients and illuminates how discovery groups from the Tidal Model can be used as introductory sessions to build gradual trust among people with mental illness before engaging in a person-centred group intervention. The study fills a research gap in methods to create a safe and trusting environment in treatment groups for people with mental illness working with recovery-oriented person-centred interventions. This study emphasizes the importance of meeting concerns about social interactions in persons with mental illness when joining treatment groups. It presents a recovery-oriented method which meets this requirement and is easy to implement in practice. INTRODUCTION: Recovery-oriented interventions delivered individually or in groups are more and more common within mental health nursing. However, persons with mental illness may be cautious about engaging in groups. Therefore, it is important to provide a trusting basis in the group to allow for the best opportunities to promote engagement, attendance and impact of treatment. The aim was to explore how discovery group sessions were experienced as introductory sessions from the perspectives of participants and facilitators before engaging in a person-centred group intervention. A qualitative interview study was conducted, involving four group facilitators and 16 participants with mental illness from five completed groups. Data were analysed with Ricoeur's theory of interpretation. The findings showed that the two discovery group sessions were experienced as useful and meaningful to all and created a safe atmosphere and a trusted relationship among group participants and facilitators. Feeling safe and sharing experiences and emotions contribute to the relational climate in a group. Addressing concerns about social interactions in persons with mental illness is important in group treatment. This study proved that engaging patients in designing or adapting interventions for mental health services is important to improve quality.

Supporting adolescents' leisure time physical activity in low‐income areas: A qualitative systematic review of participant, parent and stakeholder perspectives on family and community interventions

AbstractIn low‐income communities, there is often a lack of resources and facilities for adolescents to engage in organized sports and leisure time physical activity. Therefore, different intervention strategies have been applied to promote physical activity. Yet, a systematic overview of the experiences of those involved in the interventions is lacking. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative systematic review was to synthesize participating adolescents', their parents' and other stakeholders' perspectives on family and/or community interventions that seek to support adolescents' leisure time physical activity in low‐income areas. Five databases were searched using PIICo (P [population], I [intervention], I [phenomena of interest], and Co [context]) to operationalize the review question. Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Through a thematic synthesis inspired by Thomas and Harden, six themes were constructed: (1) developing relationships with a trustworthy adult coach, (2) meeting an inclusive approach: ‘A place for everyone’, (3) forming new friendships through fun sports activities, (4) receiving support through free services, (5) experiencing the neighbourhood as unsafe and (6) challenging life circumstances for adolescents' participation. The findings showed that coaches and other programme staff are significant for adolescents' positive experiences of the intervention and continuous participation. Furthermore, mutual trust, respect and coaches utilizing inclusive approaches were significant to the development of social bonds between peers and their coaches. However, life circumstances and the experience of an unsafe neighbourhood impacted the adolescents' attendance negatively. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

1937 The future of research: Participant perspectives on remote trial delivery

Abstract Introduction The PROMOTe trial was conducted entirely remotely, which aimed to enable a wider recruitment of participants, minimised risk of Covid-19 exposure and adhere to former travel restrictions. Participant experiences with remote clinical trials are not well understood. This work aimed to characterise participant perspectives on the remote delivery of the PROMOTe trial. Methods The trial involved remote measurement of short physical performance battery and grip strength, and remote collection of stool, urine, saliva, and capillary blood. Equipment including a dynamometer was posted to participants. Participants returned biological samples by post. A mixed methods approach was used, whereby participants were invited to complete an online questionnaire consisting of Likert, multiple-choice and open-ended questions upon trial completion. Results Of 72 trial participants, mean age 73.1, 80.6% (n = 58) completed the questionnaire. 53.5% (n = 31) had no preference between remote or in-person participation. Of those who preferred to take part remotely, 57.1% (n = 4) stated this was because there was no need to travel. 57.1% (n = 12) of those who preferred to take part in-person stated this was because they preferred to talk to the staff and ask questions face-to-face. Participants found that taking 5 out of the 8 physical measures were of similar difficulty over video teleconferencing compared to in-person. 100.0% (n = 58) of participants found it “easy” or “average” to collect stool, urine, and saliva, while 63.2% (n = 36) of participants thought it was “easy” or “average” to collect capillary blood. All participants found packaging and returning all four sample types of “easy” or “average” difficulty. Conclusion These findings suggest that the majority of participants found remote trial delivery, including handling equipment and collecting biological samples, both acceptable and manageable. Remote trial delivery has potential for increasing access of older people to trial participation.

Informing adolescent substance misuse prevention: A parent focus group perspective

AbstractSubstance misuse during adolescence is an issue, and engaging parents in prevention efforts has significant positive impacts; yet barriers to engagement exist. The purpose of this qualitative parent focus group study was to understand the perspectives of participants (n = 5) about information and delivery platforms that will promote, engage, and support parents in prevention efforts. Thematic analyses identified five key themes from the semistructured interview: (1) educational support, (2) community support, (3) venues and platforms, (4) influences of other countries, and (5) potential barriers. Implications for clinical mental health and school counselors, and future research are discussed.

The (un)caring experienced by racialized and/or ethnoculturally diverse residents in supportive living: a qualitative study

BackgroundRacialized and/or ethnocultural minority older adults in supportive living settings may not have access to appropriate services and activities. Most supportive living facilities are mainstream (not specific to one group); however, culturally specific facilities are purpose-built to accommodate older adults from a particular group. Our objective was to describe the perspectives of diverse participants about access to culturally appropriate care, accessible services, and social and recreation activities in culturally specific and mainstream (non-specific) supportive living facilities.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 people (11 staff, 8 family members, 2 residents) from 7 supportive living homes (2 culturally specific and 5 mainstream) in Alberta, Canada. We used a rapid qualitative inquiry approach to structure the data collection and analysis.ResultsStaff and family members described challenges in accessing culturally appropriate care in mainstream facilities. Family members expressed guilt and shame when their relative moved to supportive living, and they specifically described long waitlists for beds in culturally specific homes. Once in the facility, language barriers contributed to quality of care issues (e.g., delayed assessments) and challenges accessing recreation and social activities in both mainstream and culturally specific homes. Mainstream facilities often did not have appropriate food options and had limited supports for religious practices. Residents who had better English language proficiency had an easier transition to supportive living.ConclusionsRacialized and/or ethnoculturally diverse residents in mainstream supportive living facilities did not receive culturally appropriate care. Creating standalone facilities for every cultural group is not feasible; therefore, we must improve the care in mainstream facilities, including recruiting more diverse staff and integrating a wider range of recreation and religious services and food options.

Developing a measure of participant experience of trials: qualitative study and cognitive testing

Background To encourage participation in trials, people need to have a positive experience. However, researchers do not routinely measure participant experience. Our aim is to facilitate routine measurement by developing a measure that captures the participant perspective, in a way that is meaningful, acceptable and useful to trial teams and participants. Methods We conducted a focus group and 25 interviews with trial professionals and trial participants to explore how participant experiences of trials should be measured, and to identify domains and items to include in the measure. Interviewees were also asked to comment on a list of candidate domains and items informed by a previous review of the literature on participant experience measures. Interviews were analysed thematically. Candidate domains and items were incorporated into a draft measure. Cognitive testing was undertaken in two rounds to ensure the items were comprehensible and grounded in participant experience. Results Interviewees and patient and public contributors reported that standardising the measurement of participant experience of trials had the potential to improve trial experience but described issues around the timing of measurement. Cognitive testing highlighted issues with comprehension, recall and response and numerous items were removed or refined. We developed a standard and a short version of the measure for feasibility testing. Conclusions We developed a measure covering important domains of participant experience of trials, which could assist trial teams and participants to improve trial design and enhance delivery of a meaningful participant experience.

How young adults explain their intention to participate in online direct citizen participation

AbstractFacilitating direct citizen participation through online channels is considered as an opportunity for including harder to reach groups in participation. Because young adults (18‐25) are heavy internet users, this group is expected to be easier to include online. Evidence shows, however, that also in online direct participation young adults remain underrepresented. To better understand this discrepancy from the perspective of participants, this research asks how young adults explain their intention to participate online. Thematic analysis highlights that young adults' intention to participate in online direct participation can be explained through: (1) cause‐oriented participation, (2) the role of social (media) networks, (3) selective attention to cope with information overload, and (4) navigating misinformation and negativity. In the discussion section, this article considers how these explanations can inform government strategies for better including young adults in online direct participation.

Food Systems and Planetary Health Nexus Elective: A Novel Approach to A Medical Education Imperative for the 21st Century

This is a report on an inaugural medical student elective, Microbiomes Matter: The Path to Regenerative Systems of Farm, Food, and Health, from the perspective of the student participants. Recognizing food as medicine is gaining support across many settings. However, little is known about how medical schools engage in this holistic approach. Integrating food systems and the connections to soil and human health through microbiomes into medical education represents a transformative shift towards more holistic healthcare practices. We describe the course content and impact of a medical school elective in food systems. This elective employed a systems lens and planetary health perspective to explore the impact of climatic factors and environmental degradation on farms, nutrition, and non-communicable lifestyle diseases. Through the two-week course, medical students gained insights into sustainable food systems, supply chains, and the importance of regenerative agriculture. The course also provided a comprehensive overview of the gut microbiome, nutrition, technologies, and the economics of food systems, including their impact on lifestyle diseases. By fostering a systems-oriented mindset, this elective better equips medical students to address the complex challenges of human and planetary health and promote regenerative, sustainable, culturally sensitive, and robust systems of farm, food, and health.