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Employment subsidies are important active labour market policy (ALMP) tools, suited to a variety of labour market challenges. This paper engages with recent ALMP categorisation debates by appraising Cronert's (2019) recent typology of employment subsidies. It uses empirical material to assess the typology's explanatory power and produce insights to inform further typological development. The illustrative case of the British ' Wage Incentive' (2012-2014) is used to assess the typology's analytical purchase. Cronert's typology helpfully identifies key distinctions in the distributional profiles of employment subsidies, but further understanding of the category is impeded by the practice of defining them as demand-side interventions. The paper argues for a reappraisal of their supply-side characteristics, maintaining that the (potential) worker should be included in the analysis, and that employment subsidies' relationship with training and job creation should be acknowledged. It proposes a redefinition of employment subsidies reflecting their real-world use, and suggests a framework for further exploring varieties of employment subsidy design from the perspective of beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Independent mobility is an important component of healthy ageing. Public transit may be an affordable way to achieve independent mobility, and yet little is known about older adults' transition to public transit. This paper addresses this research gap by providing an exploration of older adults' experiences transitioning to public transit use, and by comparing these experiences to those of older people who have always travelled using transit. Twenty-four older adults (65+) living in Hamilton, Canada, who use public transit completed semi-structured interviews during which they discussed their experiences when they first began to use transit. These experiences are framed herein with the concept self-efficacy, i.e. how one's belief in their ability to complete a task shapes their ability to complete said task. Results indicate that most older adults acquire skills to transition to public transit, such as trip planning, boarding, knowing where to sit and exiting the bus. These skills are developed through practice. As one gains experience, one becomes more confident in their ability to meet their daily travel needs using transit. Therefore, the transition to public transit as an older adult can be more challenging for those with little experience using public transit. This paper highlights the danger of assuming all older adults will effortlessly take up transit and stresses the importance of older adults gaining experience using public transit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To explore higher education institution (HEI) perspectives on the development and implementation of trainee nursing associates (NAs) in the primary care workforce in England. Background: Current shortages of primary health care staff have led to innovative skill mix approaches in attempts to maintain safe and effective care. In England, a new level of nursing practice, NAs, was introduced and joined the workforce in 2019. This role was envisaged as a way of bridging the skills gap between health care assistants and registered nurses and as an alternative route into registered nursing. However, there is limited evidence on programme development and implementation of trainee NAs within primary care settings and HEI perspectives on this. Methods: This paper draws from a larger qualitative study of HEI perspectives on the trainee NA programme. Twenty-seven staff involved in training NAs, from five HEIs across England, were interviewed from June to September 2021. The interview schedule specifically included questions relating to primary care. Data relating to primary care were extracted and analysed using a combined framework and thematic analysis approach. Findings: Three themes were developed: 'Understanding the trainee role and requirements', 'Trainee support in primary care' and 'Skills and scope of practice'. It is apparent that a more limited understanding of the NA programme requirements can lead to difficulties in accessing the right support for trainees in primary care. This can create challenges for trainees in gaining the required competencies and uncertainty in understanding what constitutes a safe scope of practice within the role for both employers and trainees. It might be anticipated that as this new programme becomes more embedded in primary care, a greater understanding will develop, support will improve and the nature and scope of this new level of practice will become clearer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2003, Norway implemented an 'Introduction Programme' that aimed to increase labour market inclusion among newly arrived immigrants. Its main objectives were to facilitate free courses in Norwegian language training and social studies, and education or on-the-job training. The participants were given an allowance to attend the programme. This paper uses administrative register data to evaluate the effect of the Norwegian introduction programme on female immigrants' employment and earnings prospects. The sample consists of female immigrants from Asia or Africa who immigrated to Norway 18 months before or after the implementation of the introduction programme. The study measures their probability of being employed and their mean earnings 4–6 and 7–9 years after immigration. The results show that the Norwegian introduction programme had a small but significant effect on women's employment, but not on their earnings. This article suggests that the small effect of the programme on employment and non-effect on earnings may imply a displacement effect rather than an improvement in language skills and labour market skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to contribute to the knowledge about open, co-produced meeting centres for people with dementia, from their own perspective. Services that support people who are newly diagnosed with dementia are often insufficient. Co-produced services have the potential to address the need of people with dementia to be useful and productive, while reducing the stigma. In this study, we applied a qualitative design. Data were collected at a meeting centre for people with newly diagnosed dementia, and consisted of fieldwork (13 days for about two hours at a time), written materials, and semi-structured interviews (mean length 30 minutes) with five attendees with dementia and two staff persons. The analysis was inspired by situational analysis. The findings showed that the meeting centre provided a place for human encounters, a break from everyday life, and a place to share knowledge and develop new skills. Further, challenges were described. Co-production consisted of the attendees being encouraged to take part in the planning of activities, learning from each other and providing mutual support. The study adds to previous knowledge about co-produced services for people with dementia. Future studies can clarify how co-production can be developed in services for people with newly diagnosed dementia in countries and regions where there is a dearth of this kind of support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of dependent older people in England, as elsewhere, is projected to rise substantially, while the number of unpaid carers is not projected to rise by an equivalent amount. Barriers to people caring for older relatives have been theorised, however, there is a lack of understanding of attitudes to providing care in the future among people who are not currently carers. This paper presents qualitative analysis of interviews with 20 people in middle age about their willingness to care for older relatives in the future. Interviewees were asked their general views about who should provide care, then to consider future scenarios in which a close relative developed care needs. Willingness to care was influenced by beliefs about reciprocity, love and identity, beliefs about who was likely to provide the best quality and most appropriate care, and beliefs about how difficult caring would be. Older relatives' care preferences were a key consideration. While some interviewees felt the best care would always be provided by family, others considered that professional skills were needed. Interviewees saw important roles for easily accessible information and advice, sharing care, including respite care, and financial support, in making it easier to provide care. The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown had highlighted relevant issues for interviewees, which are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitalisation emerged as a central problem in global social governance in the past decade. 'Digital transformation' was expected to bring new social risks, requiring a redesign of the welfare state. This study examines the social policy responses of international actors on the digitalisation agenda in the 2010s and early 2020s. Inspired by sociological institutionalism, it shows different trajectories followed by UN agencies, the OECD and the World Bank in terms of addressing the social implications of this transformation. Despite these divergent organisational agendas, the article reveals the emergence of a new transnational policy paradigm, the 'Schumpeterian consensus', overcoming the antagonism between 'economic' and 'social' institutions from previous decades. In this paradigm, the 'Schumpeterian investment state' is seen as a mediator between the creative and destructive potential of technological change. Its social model encourages governments to invest in skills, universal social protection and flexicurity for the digital era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inverse probability adaptation effects (the finding that encountering a verb in an unexpected structure increases long-term priming for that structure) have been observed in both L1 and L2 speakers. However, participants in these studies all had established representations of the syntactic structures to be primed. It therefore remains an open question whether inverse probability adaptation effects could take place with newly encountered L2 structures. In a pre-registered experiment, we exposed participants (n = 84) to an artificial language with active and passive constructions. Training on Day 1 established expectations for specific co-occurrence patterns between verbs and structures. On Day 2, established patterns were violated for the surprisal group (n = 42), but not for the control group (n = 42). We observed no immediate priming effects from exposure to high-surprisal items. On Day 3, however, we observed an effect of input variation on comprehension of verb meaning in an auditory grammaticality judgment task. The surprisal group showed higher accuracy for passive structures in both tasks, suggesting that experiencing variation during learning had promoted the recognition of optionality in the target language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this conceptual replication of Sparks and Dale ([2023]. The prediction from MLAT to L2 achievement is largely due to MLAT asessment of underlying L1 abilities. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 1–25) utilizing a dataset previously reported by Sparks et al. ([2009]. Long-term relationships among early L1 skills, L2 aptitude, L2 affect, and later L2 proficiency. Applied Psycholinguistics, 30, 725–755.), L1 achievement scores over 1st–5th grades and L2 aptitude scores from the Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT) in 9th grade were examined as predictors of L2 achievement for U.S. secondary students completing L2 courses in 9th and 10th grades. The study's focus was on the uniqueness and efficiency of MLAT with respect to measuring L1 achievement in predicting L2 achievement. All L1 measures and MLAT predicted L2 literacy and language, and L1 measures predicted MLAT scores. Word decoding was the strongest overall L1 predictor, though there was variation across the L2 measures. The unique contribution of MLAT was modest, as the majority of total prediction (77–86%) was due to L1 measures. The efficiency of MLAT in capturing predictive variance from L1 abilities was moderately high (median ∼73%) but variable across the L1 and L2 measures. Findings are generally consistent with those of Sparks and Dale (2023) showing that prediction from MLAT to L2 is largely due to MLAT's assessment of L1 abilities, even though a substantial amount of L2 prediction-relevant L1 variance is missed by MLAT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of an ENT simulation course for equipping foundation doctors with core ENT skills in preparation for an ENT senior house officer post. Method: A total of 41 foundation doctors in the East of England participated in our two-part simulation course. Pre- and post-course surveys, consisting of Likert scales and a Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure, were sent to assess confidence in core ENT skills and acceptability of course format. Results: Post-simulation, confidence improved in all core ENT skills taught (p < 0.001), along with confidence and preparedness to work as an ENT senior house officer (p < 0.001). Overall course median Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure score was 48, and 100 per cent of participants would recommend this course to colleagues. Conclusion: Simulation improves foundation doctors' confidence in core ENT skills and increases preparedness for working as an ENT senior house officer. Guidance on core ENT skills requirements should be made available to improve uniformity amongst ENT simulation courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Does the genetic aptitude for educational attainment (GAEA) moderate the genetic risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and drug use disorder (DUD)? Methods: In the native Swedish population, born 1960–1980 and followed through 2017 (n = 1 862 435), the family genetic risk score (FGRS) for AUD and DUD and GAEA were calculated from, respectively, the educational attainment and risk for AUD and DUD, of 1st through 5th degree relatives from Swedish national registers. Analyses utilized Aalen's linear hazards models. Results: Risk for AUD was robustly predicted by the main effects of FGRSAUD [ b = 6.32 (95% CI 6.21–6.43), z = 64.9, p < 0.001) and GAEA [ b = −2.90 (2.83–2.97), z = 44.1, p < 0.001] and their interaction [ b = −1.93 (1.83–2.03), z = 32.9, p < 0.001]. Results were similar for the prediction of DUD by the main effects of FGRSDUD [ b = 4.65 (CI 4.56–4.74), z = 59.4, p < 0.001] and GAEA [−2.08 (2.03–2.13), z = 46.4, p < 0.001] and their interaction [ b = −1.58 (1.50–1.66)), z = 30.2, p < 0.001]. The magnitude of the interactions between GAEA and FGRSAUD and FGRSDUD in the prediction of, respectively, AUD and DUD was attenuated only slightly by the addition of educational attainment to the model. Conclusions and relevance: The genetic propensity to high educational attainment robustly moderates the genetic risk for both AUD and DUD such that the impact of the genetic liability to AUD and DUD on the risk of illness is substantially attenuated in those with high v. low GAEA. This effect is not appreciably mediated by the actual level of educational attainment. These naturalistic findings could form the basis of prevention efforts in high-risk youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests grammatical aspect in adult Heritage Speakers (HSs) of Greek in Germany (HSs-Germany) and the US (HSs-US), a topic which has not been investigated before for this language, exploring the role of the dominant language and the default value as an acquisition strategy. In an oral elicitation task (Experiment 1) targeting the production of aspectual marking in Greek, Greek monolinguals (MSs) and HSs-Germany exhibited ceiling performance, while HSs-US were significantly less accurate. Education in Greek reliably predicted their accuracy. In a speeded Grammaticality Judgment task (Experiment 2) targeting the comprehension of aspect in a Grammaticality x Aspect repeated measures design, similar results were obtained for the grammatical conditions as in Experiment 1. In ungrammatical conditions, accuracy on aspect was affected for all groups, and this was more evident for HSs. HSs-US were overall less accurate with the morphologically marked form (perfective). Decision Times (DTs) revealed that only MSs and HSs-Germany were sensitive to aspect violations exhibiting longer DTs. Education in Greek reliably predicted accuracy and DTs. The results are discussed within the realm of heritage languages, language contact, and aspect acquisition in Greek bilingual populations. Finally, certain novel verbal forms produced by HSs are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effects of automated metrics-based summative feedback on performance, retention and cognitive load in distributed virtual reality simulation training of mastoidectomy. Method: Twenty-four medical students were randomised in two groups and performed 15 mastoidectomies on a distributed virtual reality simulator as practice. The intervention group received additional summative metrics-based feedback; the control group followed standard instructions. Two to three months after training, participants performed a retention test without learning supports. Results: The intervention group had a better final-product score (mean difference = 1.0 points; p = 0.001) and metrics-based score (mean difference = 12.7; p < 0.001). At retention, the metrics-based score for the intervention group remained superior (mean difference = 6.9 per cent; p = 0.02). Also at the retention, cognitive load was higher in the intervention group (mean difference = 10.0 per cent; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Summative metrics-based feedback improved performance and lead to a safer and faster performance compared with standard instructions and seems a valuable educational tool in the early acquisition of temporal bone skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to Bengson et al.'s (2009) Salchow case, Irina is a novice skater who (1) has a mistaken belief about what amounts to a Salchow, but also (2) has a neurological abnormality which, unknowingly to her, affects both her movement and her sense of it. As a result of this twist, she (3) always ends up succeeding in jumping the Salchow whenever she tries. This story was presented as a counterexample to a variant of anti-intellectualism, and as Bengson and colleagues expected, the vast majority of participants in their survey judged both that Irina is able to do the Salchow and that she does not know how to do it. But the three conditions above leave some ambiguity about the story. That is whether Irina is aware of her own ability, or whether she is aware of what she is doing when she performs it, and therefore the fact that she can reliably perform the Salchow. However, as we report here, disambiguating this point will radically change the responses of people, which rather poses a serious challenge to intellectualism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to highlight the uniqueness of the English choristers' education, what special musical skills it passes on to youngsters and how these may help them in later life. It investigates the perceptions of 30 ex-choristers who attended a broad selection of English choir schools between 1940 and 2010 using semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that music training of choristers forms a solid foundation to enhance the development of an all-round musicianship. In particular, it gives them significant sight-reading skills due to the huge volume of rehearsals and public performances. Although in most cases their instrumental skills are not sufficient for them to become professional soloists in their instrument, many ex-choristers found it relatively easy to achieve a music scholarship or pursue a music career if they wanted. Many of them retained a passion for music which was not necessarily limited to choral singing. The findings are considered in relation to the possible reasons for this, and the implications for education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]