Background Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a condition characterised by higher-than-normal blood glucose concentrations during pregnancy with immediate and long-term health consequences. Gestational diabetes affects more than 1 in 6 Australian pregnant women. Healthy eating advice is the first line treatment for women with, or at high-risk of developing GDM. But for pregnant women with food insecurity (i.e. barriers to affording or accessing nutritious food) following the dietary advice given can be challenging. ‘Food is Medicine’ programs integrate nutrition interventions into healthcare to improve the diet of clinical populations. ‘Produce Prescription’ is one approach, where free or subsidised healthy foods are prescribed to people with a clinical need and who experience food insecurity as part of their healthcare. Our study is the global first randomised controlled trial of ‘Produce Prescription’ versus usual care in pregnancy. Aim Our study aims to test wh

BackgroundIn the pursuit of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), Community Action for Health (CAH) is considered a crucial strategy. CAH empowers communities to define their healthcare priorities and monitor the effectiveness of implemented reforms. With a long history in India, CAH has been incorporated into national policies like the National Rural Health Mission and the National Health Policy. Globally, CAH is associated with improved health outcomes, increased health literacy, and stronger healthcare systems. However, despite its potential, CAH faces challenges in India. While a pilot program showed positive impacts, concerns about its confrontational nature led to a shift towards less confrontational methods. Currently, CAH is considered underutilized and under-researched.A 2020 review called for more systematic and nuanced documentation of CAH experiences, urging the need to identify contexts that enable or hinder its success, as well as scalable and adaptable tools. Current research is fragmented, focusing

Background SMARThealth is a digital primary health care ecosystem developed by The George Institute to overcome limitations in chronic disease care, particularly in low resource settings. Designed for use by community healthcare workers (CHWs), it supports the Systematic Medical Appraisal, Referral and Treatment (SMART) of chronic conditions through evidence-based point of care decision support. People living with multiple long-term conditions (MLTCs) often receive care that is disjointed and focused on individual diseases rather than the person as a whole. This siloed approach leads to suboptimal health outcomes and inefficiencies in the healthcare system. Current health services are not designed to manage the complex and intersecting needs of individuals with MLTCs. There is a pressing need to develop integrated, person-centred approaches that can deliver coordinated, high-quality care for people with MLTCs in low-resource settings. Aim To develop and conduct a pre

Background Each year, more than 170,000 Australians are treated in intensive care units, where nearly all receive intravenous fluids to maintain their blood pressure and circulatory stability. However, when not carefully managed, this treatment can result in fluid overload, a condition linked to multi-organ failure and a higher risk of death. Studies show that for every extra millilitre per kilogram of fluid given, the risk of mortality rises by 2%. Despite the widespread use and potential serious consequences of fluid therapy, there is a major gap in evidence to guide when and how best to remove excess fluid. Fluid overload remains a complex and often overlooked issue in Australian ICUs, with research indicating that patients frequently maintain a positive fluid balance during the early days of intensive care, which correlates with higher hospital mortality. International findings highlight the global impact of this problem, yet no randomised trials have tested fluid removal strategies in gen