Aims and objectives: To review communication interventions that aim to improve regular care interactions between people with dementia and their carers in various settings; and to examine the impact of such interventions on both carer and carereceiver outcomes. Background: Effective communication is imperative to ensure quality of care for people living with dementia. Due to neurodegenerative changes, people with dementia encounter ongoing and progressive difficulties in both understanding and expressing themselves. This in turn creates challenges for carers, which highlights the need for equipping them with necessary communication skills to respond to the specific communication needs of people with dementia. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Method: Medline, Embase, CINAHL, ProQuest and PsycINFO databases were searched for eligible interventions with any date of the publication. Hand searching was also conducted through reviewing the reference lists of relevant articles. The screening and selection of studies were based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria for eligibility and the methodological quality assessment checklist. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted on comparable quantitative data. The review is reported following the PRISMA reporting guidelines. Results: Seventeen studies were included in the final review, including 12 randomised controlled trials (RCTs), three nonrandomised controlled trials (NRCTs) and two controlled before-after interventions. The intervention designs, settings and outcome measures were varied. The findings suggest that the communication training had a positive impact on both carer and care-receiver outcomes, albeit to different degrees. The intervention effects were found to be strongest on carer communication skills and knowledge. Conclusion: There is solid evidence for the positive impact of communication training on the skills and knowledge of carers. More research is needed regarding the effects of such educational interventions on carer physio-psychological outcomes and care-receiver neuropsychiatric symptoms. It is important to establish best practices in training design, develop validated outcome measures and adopt consistent reporting approaches. Relevance to clinical practice: The increasing global prevalence of people with dementia manifests across clinical and community contexts. The profound impact of dementia on communication and associated care raises the imperative for enhanced | 1051 NGUYEN Et al.

Smart homes are homes with technologically advanced systems to enable domestic task automation, easier communication, and higher security. As an enabler of health and well-being enhancement, smart homes have been geared to accommodate people with special needs, especially older people. This paper examines the concept of “smart home” in a technologically driven society and its multi-functional contribution to the enhancement of older people’s lives. Discussion then focuses on the challenges in the use of smart homes among older people such as accessibility and ethical issues. Finally, some implications and recommendations are provided

Language learning strategies (LLSs) are believed to be influenced by individual differences as well as environmental and contextual factors. Therefore, the effective use of LLSs is determined by various factors, including both learning and learner variables. This dynamic and complex nature of LLSs renders it appropriate to use a qualitative approach to undertake research into this issue. This paper details the qualitative findings from a larger-scale study on English LLSs among tertiary students in the context of Vietnam. The data was gathered from semi-structured interviews with 10 English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching staff and 10 EFL students at a university in Vietnam. Interviews were conducted in Vietnamese lasting 30 to 40 minutes, and were audio recorded with consent. The interview questions for students focussed on their general attitudes and lived experiences of LLSs. Similarly, the interview questions for EFL staff were structured around their general attitudes. The interview data were translated into English, rechecked, and thematically analysed. The findings are of a textual and interpretative nature with emerging themes and issues related to the attitudes towards and actual use of LLSs among the target learners. The findings provide practical implications for practitioners, researchers and educational policy makers alike.

Background Recruiting and retaining medical, nursing, and allied health professionals in rural and remote areas is a worldwide challenge, compromising continuity of care and population health outcomes in these locations. Specifically, pharmacists play an essential and accessible frontline healthcare role, and are often the first point of contact for health concerns. Despite several incentives, there remains a maldistribution and undersupply of pharmacists in rural and remote areas across many parts of the world. Although current systematic reviews have focussed on factors affecting pharmacists’ retention generally, literature specifically focused on rural pharmacist workforce in a global context remains limited. The aim of this systematic review is to identify factors associated with recruitment and retention of the pharmacist workforce in rural and remote settings. Better understanding of these contributors will inform more effective interventional strategies to resolve pharmacist workforce shortages. Methods A systematic search of primary studies was conducted in online databases, including Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science and PsycINFO, and by hand-searching of reference lists. Eligible studies were identified based on predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria and methodological quality criteria, utilising the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) and Good Reporting of A Mixed Methods Study (GRAMMS) checklists. Results The final review included 13 studies, with quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods research design. Study-specific factors associated with recruitment and retention of pharmacists in rural practice were identified and grouped into five main themes: geographic and family-related, economic and resources, scope of practice or skills development, the practice environment, and community and practice support factors. Conclusions The results provide critical insights into the complexities of rural recruitment and retention of pharmacists and confirms the need for flexible yet multifaceted responses to overcoming rural pharmacist workforce challenges. Overall, the results provide an opportunity for rural communities and health services to better identify key strengths and challenges unique to the rural and remote pharmacist workforce that may be augmented to guide more focussed recruitment and retention endeavours.

With a predicted shortfall in the worldwide nursing workforce, efforts to understand attributes that influence attrition and workforce longevity remain fundamental. Self-efficacy and the broader construct of psychological capital have been linked to positive workplace-based attributes in occupations. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between general self-efficacy, occupational (nursing) self-efficacy, and psychological capital and their predictive factors among nursing students. A cross sectional design was used to address the aims of the study where all nursing students studying a three-year bachelor’s degree were invited to complete a questionnaire examining traits that might assist in the preparation for, and longevity in, a nursing career. Although the participating nursing students demonstrated high levels of general self-efficacy, their reported levels of nursing-specific self-efficacy were significantly lower. Psychological capital measures indicated that students had high levels of belief, hope, and resilience concerning their capacity to commit to and achieve goals, succeed now and into the future, and overcome obstacles. The findings suggest an opportunity exists for education providers to nurture the malleable aspects of self-efficacy and psychological capital, while developing greater capacity to bounce back and overcome the challenges that nursing students may encounter in their undergraduate academic training, and to reduce attrition as they prepare to enter the workplace.