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Article History

Received: 13 November 2025

Accepted: 29 June 2026

First Online: 23 July 2026

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study involved the administration of an anonymous online survey to current and former organizational volunteers. The study was determined to be exempt from full Institutional Review Board (IRB) review under the University of Fukui, as the research involved minimal risk, no personally identifiable information was collected, and participants were adults or minors providing assent in a non-sensitive anonymous survey context. For the three participants who fell within the 15-18 age bracket, electronic assent was obtained; parental consent was not required given the anonymous and non-sensitive nature of the research.

Consent for publication: Not applicable. This manuscript does not contain any individual person’s data in any form (including individual details, images, or videos).

Competing interests: The first author, Assistant Professor Amil Khanzada, is the founder and President of Virufy, the nonprofit organization examined in this case study. This affiliation may pose a potential conflict of interest. To mitigate bias, the second author, Professor Takuji Takemoto, independently reviewed the study design, data interpretation, and manuscript drafts. Dr. Takemoto declares no competing interests.