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The escalating global burden of chronic diseases necessitates innovative approaches to enhance medication adherence and quality use of medicines (QUM), particularly in underserved rural populations. This study developed and evaluated Impak Sihat , a telehealth system tailored to address systemic healthcare barriers in rural Malaysia through a three-phase mixed-methods design. Phase 1 involved qualitative interviews with 15 villagers, revealing smartphone ownership, inconsistent internet connectivity, high social media engagement, and limited critical appraisal of online health information. Phase 2 utilised these insights to create a dual-component system: a public portal with Malay-language educational materials, appointment booking, and a practitioner platform featuring secured patient data management. Phase 3 assessed feasibility via community demonstrations with 77 participants (mean age 53.4 ± 11.8 years), showing high acceptance scores (73–87%) across six domains. Key findings included strong usability (87.0 ± 16.3) and interface design (74.8 ± 23.9), though older adults scored significantly lower on interface design for learnability (ρ=−0.29, p  < 0.01). The system’s offline functionality and WhatsApp integration mitigated rural connectivity constraints, yet challenges persisted in data confidentiality (lowest score: 73.1 ± 26.7). Healthy participants consistently rated the system significantly higher across multiple domains (Interface Design: p = 0.003, User Experience: p = 0.018, Healthcare Delivery: p = 0.002, and Overall Satisfaction: p = 0.003). These results underscore the potential of context-specific telehealth systems to bridge urban-rural health disparities while highlighting critical implementation barriers. This work highlights the importance of engaging key stakeholders, such as healthcare providers and community leaders, to ensure system sustainability and scalability. Overall, the study demonstrates that digital health interventions, when appropriately tailored to the specific needs of rural populations, can significantly contribute to reducing healthcare disparities and promoting patient empowerment.

Shared decision-making (SDM) has been recognized as an important tool in the mental health field and considered as a crucial component of patient-centered care. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a strategic tool towards the promotion and implementation of SDM in the use of antidepressants among patients with major depressive disorder. Nineteen doctors and 11 major depressive disorder patients who are involved in psychiatric outpatient clinic appointments were purposively selected and recruited to participate in one of six focus groups in a large teaching hospital in Malaysia. Focus groups were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a thematic approach to identify current views on providing information needed for SDM practice towards its implementation in near future. Patients’ and doctors’ views were organized into six major themes, which are; summary of treatment options, correct ways of taking medication, potential side effects of treatments related to patients, sharing of case study related to the treatment options, cost of treatment options, and input from pharmacist. The information may be included in the SDM tool which can be useful to inform further research efforts and developments that contribute towards the successful implementation of SDM into clinical practice.

This detailed review analyzed the previously published studies related to the prevalence of psychotropic substances use, associated factors, and the misuse of the psychotropics among students. A comprehensive literature search covering six databases was performed. References from published articles and reports were extracted. This helped in identifying the available information on the use of psychotropic drugs. A total of 16 articles were included in this review. There is an upsurge of using psychotropics with the preceding years. More students are exposed to the risk of using psychotropic substances due to the multiple factors like stress, increased academic workload, etc. The misuse is found to be common with prescribed psychotropic substances. Students need to be aware of the bad outcomes of using psychotropic substances. Participation of every stakeholder to curb this menace needs to be emphasized. More extensive studies are required to know about the increasing prevalence, factors, and misuse of psychotropics.

The escalating global burden of chronic diseases necessitates innovative approaches to enhance medication adherence and quality use of medicines (QUM), particularly in underserved rural populations. This study developed and evaluated Impak Sihat, a telehealth system tailored to address systemic healthcare barriers in rural Malaysia through a three-phase mixed-methods design. Phase 1 involved qualitative interviews with 15 villagers, revealing smartphone ownership, inconsistent internet connectivity, high social media engagement, and limited critical appraisal of online health information. Phase 2 utilised these insights to create a dual-component system: a public portal with Malay-language educational materials, appointment booking, and a practitioner platform featuring secured patient data management. Phase 3 assessed feasibility via community demonstrations with 77 participants (mean age 53.4 ± 11.8 years), showing high acceptance scores (73-87%) across six domains. Key findings included strong usability (87.0 ± 16.3) and interface design (74.8 ± 23.9), though older adults scored significantly lower on interface design for learnability (ρ=-0.29, p < 0.01). The system's offline functionality and WhatsApp integration mitigated rural connectivity constraints, yet challenges persisted in data confidentiality (lowest score: 73.1 ± 26.7). Healthy participants consistently rated the system significantly higher across multiple domains (Interface Design: p = 0.003, User Experience: p = 0.018, Healthcare Delivery: p = 0.002, and Overall Satisfaction: p = 0.003). These results underscore the potential of context-specific telehealth systems to bridge urban-rural health disparities while highlighting critical implementation barriers. This work highlights the importance of engaging key stakeholders, such as healthcare providers and community leaders, to ensure system sustainability and scalability. Overall, the study demonstrates that digital health interventions, when appropriately tailored to the specific needs of rural populations, can significantly contribute to reducing healthcare disparities and promoting patient empowerment.

The pharmacy profession has undergone tremendous changes over the past few decades. Pharmacists’ roles have expanded their boundaries to encompass more patient-centered services. However, the degree to which these roles are practised may vary. This scoping review is aimed at describing the extent and range of the professional pharmacy services offered in hospital pharmacies across different countries and the barriers underlying inappropriate or incomplete implementation of these services. Studies published in the English language between 2015 and 2019 were retrieved from the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, EBSCO Discovery Service, and Web of Science. A thematic analysis across the included studies produced two main themes. “Scope of practice” comprised three subthemes: pharmaceutical care practice, clinical pharmacy practice, and public health services and “Multiple levels of influence” comprised five subthemes: individual, interpersonal, institutional, community, and public policy-related factors. The hospital pharmacy services across countries ranged from traditional drug-centered pharmacy practice to a more progressive, clinically oriented practice. In some countries, there is an apparent inadequacy in the clinical pharmacy services provided compared to other clinical settings. Understanding the current pharmacy practice culture across different health care systems is an essential step towards improving the profession.

This study attempts to examine existence of Fisher Effect theory in Malaysia's conventional and Islamic money markets. Time series data has been included for the years 2011 to 2018 and consists of two stages of data analysis. First stage analysis examines the existence of a Fisher Effect relationship by applying the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach as an estimation method. Second stage analysis determines the strength of the Fisher Effect relationship by imposed restriction ß=1 using standard asymptotic Chi-square in Wald test. The findings found that the Fisher Effect theory valid in Malaysia's Islamic money market but there is no evidence for the conventional market. This outcome suggests that the Islamic money market can accurately predict inflation in the future. However, it appears in a weak form of relationship. Overall, outcomes of this study provide benefits for policy-makers since the existence of the Fisher relationship reflects an effective monetary policy for economic growth and sustainable development.