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This paper aims to advance the concept of “menstrual justice” by building on the comprehensive framework developed by Margaret E. Johnson (2019), which integrates legal rights, social justice and intersectional analysis. By applying Johnson’s insights and human rights frameworks to menstrual health management, the study advocates for state interventions to safeguard women labourers from exploitative practices that endanger their reproductive health and to uphold their menstrual rights.

A case study methodology is used to scrutinize menstrual injustices experienced by women labourers in precarious employment conditions. Specifically, it examines two cases, the mass hysterectomies in Beed, Maharashtra and the administration of unidentified pharmaceuticals to women in Tamil Nadu factories to mitigate menstrual pain and maximize productivity.

The findings reveal severe violations pertaining to menstrual justice, with practices deeply rooted in socioeconomic deprivation and systemic neglect. These issues subject female workers to various forms of gender-based violence that goes beyond physical abuse, raising critical concerns about menstrual justice and human rights violations.

The study’s findings have limited generalizability due to the specific contexts of the case study. Furthermore, the absence of insights from managers/supervisors, and factory owners limits a comprehensive understanding of the policies and factors leading to neglect of menstrual management practices.

The findings of the study will prompt the medical industry to initiate research into medications that can effectively alleviate period pain while minimizing harmful side effects. Current treatments often come with significant drawbacks, highlighting the need for safer and more effective alternatives. Addressing this research gap is vital for achieving menstrual equity, as it ensures that individuals suffering from menstrual pain have access to relief that does not jeopardize their overall health. Advancing research in this area will not only enhance the quality of life for menstruators but also contribute to a more equitable and inclusive approach to menstrual health care.

The findings support reframing menstrual friendly labour policies including comprehensive sexual and reproductive health information to everyone, regardless of gender, to reduce misinformation and stigma associated with menstruation at workplaces. Additionally, the study proposes the introduction of reusable menstrual products like menstrual cups to overcome period poverty. Thus, ensuring access to these resources is crucial for enabling informed decision-making, promoting gender equality, addressing health disparities and fostering the development of menstrual-friendly workplace policies.

This study, by using a case study-based approach, has thoroughly examined the issues and challenges faced by female labourers in fields and factories. It uniquely identifies the inadequacies in menstrual management provisions for female workers in India and advocates for a human rights-based approach to ensure that menstruators can manage their menstrual health safely. Unlike most existing studies, which primarily focus on product usage and the stigma or myths surrounding menstruation, this study advances menstrual justice by calling for labour policy reforms and medical research to lessen menstrual pain without compromising menstruators’ health. These reforms aim to provide working women with adequate rest and necessary provisions during menstruation. Addressing these gaps is essential and has been largely overlooked in global health policies.

This qualitative case study aims to investigate how current services meet the emotional needs of young women growing up with perinatally acquired human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Young women (15–19 years old), caregivers and service providers were recruited through three multidisciplinary HIV management centres in Malawi.

In-depth interviews were used to collect data for 14 “cases” (each “case” involved a young woman, a caregiver and a service provider, for a total of 42 participants). The interviews with adolescents were conducted using an innovative visual method known as the “my story” book.

Thematic analysis revealed that young women experienced traumatic experiences and emotional neglect after being diagnosed as HIV positive. Lack of adult support networks and social isolation were identified as intersecting factors contributing to their mental distress. According to the findings of this study, HIV care should more explicitly include comprehensive mental health-care services. This provision should include ongoing individualised counselling sessions, supplemented by communication skills training to help break the prevalent cultural silence on HIV issues. Young people living with HIV, in general, and young women, are more likely to experience mental health issues than their non-infected peers. Integrating comprehensive mental health evaluation and treatment into HIV care for young people can be beneficial.

Mental health issues are critical and underserved challenges among young people living with perinatally acquired HIV. Women experience a higher prevalence of mental challenges than men. Integrating comprehensive mental health evaluation and treatment into HIV care for young people can be beneficial. Therefore, interventions to assist young people with mental health issues are needed within the context of HIV management in Malawi.

Many studies on mental health and HIV/AIDS have been conducted. However, there is very little information as regards the emotional needs of young women growing up with perinatally acquired HIV. This study fills the void.

Imprisonment impacts women’s childbearing and mothering experiences. Using sociological concepts of total institutions, pains of imprisonment and gendered pains of imprisonment, this study aims to explore the childbearing experiences of 18 Filipino incarcerated women.

A qualitative, inductive approach was undertaken to explore imprisoned women’s pregnancy experiences. This research project used reflexive thematic analysis to examine the data from semi-structured interviews with 18 Filipino pregnant prisoners.

The participants’ experiences of childbearing in prison were reflected in three overarching themes: lack of autonomy over pregnancy; reduced capacity to manage discomforts and needs; and coping with prison deprivations. These themes embody women’s experiences of how imprisonment disrupts Filipino women’s childbearing and mothering experiences. Furthermore, the results illustrated how the women navigated the prison regime to address their needs and cope with the pains of imprisonment.

Although there is a small but growing body of research specifically focusing on mothering and imprisonment, little consideration has been given to analyzing Filipino women’s pregnancy experiences in custody. This paper highlights an urgent need to reform correctional policies and practices to address incarcerated women’s distinct needs.

The main objective of the study is to address the lack of sustainability assessments of smart connected health systems in the academic literature by presenting an assessment model to determine the alignment of these systems with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed in the 2030 Agenda.

An evaluation model based on decision analysis is proposed that includes three phases: alignment framework, information gathering and assessment. This model measures the alignment of the connected health system with each of the 17 SDGs, identifying the goals and criteria associated with each SDG that the system achieves to satisfy.

The analysis reveals that the system has achieved more than 24% of the targets among the 17 SDGs. In addition, it identifies four sustainability challenges that the system potentially addresses in relation to the SDGs, providing valuable guidance for researchers and practitioners interested in sustainable health technology development.

The study's results have significant implications for policymakers and stakeholders in the health and technology sectors.

The originality of this study lies in its comprehensive approach to assessing the sustainability of connected health systems in the context of the SDGs, filling an important gap in the existing literature.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted healthcare systems globally, including antenatal care coverage. Pregnant women, who were considered “at risk” during the pandemic, replaced in-person antenatal visits with telemedicine and accessed health information online. However, little is known about pregnant women’s online information-seeking behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the information seeking behaviour of pregnant women online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This research uses qualitative study and in-depth interviews to obtain data from eight pregnant women during the pandemic. Data were thematically analysed, with responses presented verbatim to illustrate themes.

Findings show that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the unavailability of health professionals and the fear of contracting the COVID-19 virus influenced pregnant women’s information-seeking behaviour online. Pregnant women accessed online sources as alternatives to consultations with health professionals, searched for drug prescriptions and asked pregnancy-related questions online. Findings also revealed that pregnant women conceptualised these online sources and platforms as safe spaces for sharing and dealing with pregnancy-related anxieties and difficulties during the pandemic.

The number of participants sampled in the study is considered satisfactory since data saturation was achieved. However, considering the generalisation and transferability of the research findings, note that the study focused on a limited number of pregnant women in one state in Nigeria (Lagos State). Hence, the design and sample do not provide adequate generalisation to a larger population of pregnant women in Nigeria. Future research may generalise more broadly to other states in Nigeria. Another limitation of the study was using telephone interviews to collect data. Therefore, this paper could not analyse body language and facial expressions, which prevented us from gaining insights into participants’ descriptions of health information-seeking behaviour online. Therefore, further studies should use alternative data collection methods, such as face-to-face or online video interviews, instead of telephone interviews.

This study has implications for health policy interventions. The study’s findings can guide policies on designing digital health systems for pregnant women during health crises.

This study contributes to existing literature on health information-seeking behaviour online among a vulnerable population – pregnant women in a developing country. Specifically, the study contributes to knowledge on how pregnant women’s health information-seeking behaviour can change online within a health-crisis context like the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for their overall well-being.

Notwithstanding their potential benefits especially for individuals with low health literacy, users are still somewhat skeptical about the reliability of healthcare chatbots. The present study aims to address this challenge by investigating strategies to enhance users’ cognitive and emotional trust in healthcare chatbots. Particularly, this study aims to understand the effects of chatbot design cues in increasing trust and future chatbot use intention for low health literacy users.

We conducted two experimental studies with a final sample of 327 (Study 1) and 241 (Study 2). Three different chatbots were developed (Chatbot design: Bot vs Male-doctor vs Female-doctor). Participants were asked to have a medical consultation with the chatbot. Participants self-reported their health literacy scores. The PROCESS model 7 was used to analyze the hypotheses.

The results showed that the female-doctor cues elicited greater cognitive and emotional trust, whereas the male-doctor cues only led to greater cognitive trust (vs bot-like cues). Importantly, this study found that users’ health literacy is a significant moderating factor in shaping cognitive and emotional trust. The results indicated that both the female and male-doctor cues’ positive effects on cognitive trust were significant for those with lower levels of health literacy. Furthermore, the positive effect of the female-doctor cues on emotional trust was also significant only for those whose health literacy level was low. The increased cognitive and emotional trust led to greater future intention to use the chatbot, confirming significant moderated mediation effects.

Despite the strong economic and educational benefits of healthcare chatbots for low health literacy users, studies examining how healthcare chatbot design cues affect low health literate users surprisingly remained scarce. The results of this study suggest that healthcare chatbots can be a promising technological intervention to narrow the health literacy gap when aligned with appropriate design cues.

Past research has shown there is a relationship between body image, sexual behavior, and pleasure. However, the majority of this research has centered on heterosexual participants. In this analysis, the author considers how this relationship between body image, sexual behavior, and pleasure may look within women and genderqueer individuals who are all AFAB (assigned female at birth) with 26 out of 30 participants identifying as LGBTQIA+. The author examines perceptions of body size, body hair, and genitals to consider how intersections of social structures – specifically internalized sexism, racism, and misogyny – influence the participants’ experience of sexual interactions. Both resistance and embodiment of traditional gender norms, even as queer women and genderqueer individuals, were examined in these narratives. The majority of the moments where traditional gender norms are examined describe situations when the participants were sexually interacting with cis-gendered men.