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This was a multi-method study employing pre- and post-course questionnaires and focus groups to explore nursing students' learning experiences with a technology-mediated learning approach guided by the Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (SAMR) model in the course Gerontological Nursing. 144 undergraduate nursing students completed the questionnaires. The findings suggest that the students perceived a significant improvement in their cognitive skills, class atmosphere, and educational practices at the end of the course when compared to the baseline. However, no significant increase was found in their perceived engagement in technology-mediated activities. Five themes emerged from three focus groups involving 17 students: Beneficial to my learning, Feeling less stressed, Motivating me to learn, Feeling more engaged, and Encountering some technical barriers and suggestions for improvement. Students' perceptions of using technologies for teaching and learning were mostly positive. Digitalised teaching materials should be interactive and locally relevant to improve students' learning experience and engagement.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of videoconferencing-delivered online exercise classes among community-dwelling older adults. This phenomenon is new, and no research has investigated older adults' relevant experiences and postpandemic perspectives. This study is situated in a naturalistic paradigm and adopted a descriptive qualitative methodology to understand the phenomenon. In-depth interviews were conducted with 23 older adults (aged 55–89 years) who have participated in videoconferencing-delivered online exercise since the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing thematic analysis, eight key themes were identified. Older adults experienced convenience, exercise regularity, technological transformation, and motivation when using this new form of exercise delivery. At the same time, they also experienced certain technological barriers and compromised quality of instructor supervision. Looking forward, older adults welcomed the increased opportunity for supervised exercise due to increased virtual capacity. They also envisaged that mobility-restricted groups such as frail older adults and caregivers would benefit from this form of exercise delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives Aerobic exercise is a cost-effective intervention to improve arterial stiffness, but its effects on older people are unclear; this review aims to determine those effects. Research Design and Methods Five databases were searched for randomized controlled trials of aerobic exercises. Backward and forward citations and clinical trial registries were also reviewed. Data were extracted and synthesized. A random-effects model was used in a meta-analysis. The risk of bias and the certainty of the evidence were also assessed. The protocol of this review was registered (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022349494). Results Eighteen studies (n  = 775) were identified. Aerobic exercises included cycling, walking, swimming, standing core exercise, bench step exercise, aquarobic exercise, jogging, running, upper-limb cycling, and aquatic walking. Postintervention, improvements were seen in the pulse wave velocity (SMD9 = −0.89, 95% confidence interval (CI)–1.57 to –0.22), arterial velocity–pulse index (MD2 = –6.84, 95% CI –9.05 to –4.63), and arterial pressure–volume index (MD2 = –4.97, 95% CI –6.9 to –3.04), but not in the augmentation index, arterial compliance, or beta stiffness index. Exercise lasting >8 weeks but not 4–8 weeks significantly improved pulse wave velocity. Aerobic exercise had a beneficial effect on healthy older people but not on older people with disease. The overall risk of bias was high in 9 of the included studies, with some concerns in the remaining studies. The certainty of the evidence was very low. Discussion and Implications Aerobic exercises, particularly those lasting >8 weeks, appear to be effective at improving pulse wave velocity in older people postintervention. Future trials with robust designs are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundRecent studies have revealed lifestyle behavioral risk factors that can be modified to reduce the risk of dementia. As modification of lifestyle takes time, early identification of people with high dementia risk is important for timely intervention and support. As cognitive impairment is a diagnostic criterion of dementia, cognitive assessment tools are used in primary care to screen for clinically unevaluated cases. Among them, Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is a very common instrument. However, MMSE is a questionnaire that is administered when symptoms of memory decline have occurred. Early administration at the asymptomatic stage and repeated measurements would lead to a practice effect that degrades the effectiveness of MMSE when it is used at later stages. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to exploit machine learning techniques to assist health care professionals in detecting high-risk individuals by predicting the results of MMSE using elderly health data collected from community-based primary care services. MethodsA health data set of 2299 samples was adopted in the study. The input data were divided into two groups of different characteristics (ie, client profile data and health assessment data). The predictive output was the result of two-class classification of the normal and high-risk cases that were defined based on MMSE. A dual neural network (DNN) model was proposed to obtain the latent representations of the two groups of input data separately, which were then concatenated for the two-class classification. Mean and k-nearest neighbor were used separately to tackle missing data, whereas a cost-sensitive learning (CSL) algorithm was proposed to deal with class imbalance. The performance of the DNN was evaluated by comparing it with that of conventional machine learning methods. ResultsA total of 16 predictive models were built using the elderly health data set. Among them, the proposed DNN with CSL outperformed in the detection of high-risk cases. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, average precision, sensitivity, and specificity reached 0.84, 0.88, 0.73, and 0.80, respectively. ConclusionsThe proposed method has the potential to serve as a tool to screen for elderly people with cognitive impairment and predict high-risk cases of dementia at the asymptomatic stage, providing health care professionals with early signals that can prompt suggestions for a follow-up or a detailed diagnosis.

Aim: To evaluate a year‐long mentorship program, pairing nurses from different regions across the world to support their global leadership capability, and identifying additional consequences of their participation. Background: Investment in developing nurse leaders continues as a strategic global imperative. Building on the first cohort's recommendations, this second program illustrates continued progress. Program evaluation: Using the logic model of program evaluation, this non‐empirical paper uses data collected from anonymized questionnaires and participants' stories to help improve the program, illustrating innovative practices to develop the confidence and competence of emerging and established nurse leaders globally. Discussion: The value of mentorship was recognized, and there were gains for both mentors and mentees in the development of leadership confidence and competence. Through engagement and collaboration with the whole community, participants were encouraged to understand their own and others' cultures avoiding assumptions and stereotypes. Conclusion: This evaluation illustrates that in addition to helping improve future programs, mentorship has enabled the growth of individuals' skill sets and the confidence to reach out to peers across the world to understand the meaning of global health and to make a meaningful contribution to the challenges they face. Implications for nursing practice: Nurse managers should be encouraged to develop and formalize a mentoring culture to benefit the leadership competence and well‐being of their workforce. Implications for nursing policy: Every nurse has a responsibility to invest in nursing leadership for themselves and others. Mentorship can assist nurse leaders to build workforce capability to lead and contribute to the policy agenda locally, nationally, and internationally. Starting early and at the individual level, global mentorship programs can develop leadership expertise to help nurses find their voice and strengthen their confidence and competence to lead and therefore build the strategic leaders of the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]