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Background: Women experiencing pregnancy after stillbirth experience high levels of anxiety, fear and depression. Standard antenatal care may be emotionally unsuitable for many women at this time, and there is a lack of evidence on what interventions or approaches to care might benefit these women. Therapeutic massage may assist women after stillbirth by decreasing anxiety, worry and stress. Objective: This paper outlines the objectives, methodology, outcome and assessment measures for the Helping suppOrt individuals Pregnant after Experiencing a Stillbirth (HOPES) feasibility trial which evaluates massage as an adjunct approach to care for pregnant women who have experienced a prior stillbirth. It also outlines data collection timing and considerations for analysing the data. Methods: HOPES will use a convergent parallel mixed-methods, single-arm repeated measures trial design in trained massage therapists' private clinics across Australia. HOPES aims to recruit 75 individuals pregnant after a previous stillbirth. The intervention is massage therapy treatments, and participants will receive up to five massages within a 4-month period at intervals of their choosing. Primary quantitative outcomes are the feasibility and acceptability of the massage intervention. Secondary outcomes include determining the optimal timing of massage therapy delivery and the collection of measures for anxiety, worry, stress and self-management. A thematic analysis of women's experiences undertaking the intervention will also be conducted. A narrative and joint display approach to integrate mixed-methods data is planned. Discussion: The HOPES study will determine the feasibility and preliminary evidence for massage therapy as an intervention to support women who are pregnant after a stillbirth. Trial registration. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05636553. Registered on December 3, 2022, and the trial is ongoing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Having a strong connection to culture and Country is fundamental to the health and wellbeing of Australian Aboriginal children. The aim of the research was to evaluate the feasibility of study methods and programme implementation of a co-created afterschool cultural programme, and identify areas for improvement. Methods: Aboriginal Relational Research Methodology and mixed methods were applied to evaluate the feasibility of the implementation of the programme and study methods using a non-randomised single-group study design. Australian Aboriginal children and their siblings aged 5–13 years were recruited within regional New South Wales, Australia. The primary outcomes for feasibility included recruitment rates of children and Aboriginal programme mentors, compliance rates of outcome data collection and of the planned programme activities, programme attendance, retention rates and mean enjoyment scores. Follow-up yarning circles were conducted with the children, their parents/caregivers, programme mentors and teachers to explore aspects of feasibility, and areas for improvement. Results: A total of 90 caregivers consented to their children (n = 111) being part of the research. Sixteen Aboriginal mentors were recruited to deliver the programmes across the communities. Overall, 74.4% of all health outcome measures were completed across baseline (86.5%) and follow-up (55.9%). Only 61.0% of the programme activities were delivered as originally planned. The average programme attendance rate was 70.0% with a 92.0% retention rate. Eighty-nine percent of children reported a high level of enjoyment with the programmes. Follow-up yarning identified the importance of relational methodologies and flexibility within the programme design and implementation to ensure programmes were adapted to the local community, conditions and differing age groups. Considerations for future programmes included the timing of the programme and identifying health outcome assessment tools and methods that acknowledge cultural protocols and experiences. Conclusions: Engaging the communities in the development, implementation and evaluation of the programmes were key to community support of the programme and conducting the feasibility study. Future programmes and evaluations need to be built on strong partnerships and embrace flexible and culturally embedded methodologies in order to be adaptive and responsive to research approaches, communities and to Country. Trial registration: ACTRN12619001224112. Retrospectively registered on 05 September 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]