Study Of Spanish Research Articles

Journeys to polyglotism: a case study of French, Spanish, and Japanese tourist guides

The study aimed at discovering the process through which three tourist guides of French, Spanish, and Japanese acquired different foreign languages. The data was taken through in-depth interviews to explore the motivation that drove their language learning, the language interference, the technique they used to self-teach themselves the language, and their immersion in the language’s native country. The recorded interviews were then transcribed and analyzed through data reduction, data display, and verification drawing. The results were then given to the subjects to ensure trustworthiness and to verify the researcher’s interpretation of the interview. The study found that 1) one of the most crucial factors of language learning success was strong motivation, which led to consistency and risk-taking attitude; 2) a significant growth of language mastery took place when the subjects spent extended time in the language’s native country; 3) both formal classroom instruction and informal independent learning were essential for their language improvement; 4) the subjects proactively consulted the native speakers to improve their vocabulary inventory, to correct inaccuracies or to gain new language expressions; and 5) due to the different nature of the languages they were learning, each subject had a diverse view on grammar and language interference. In pedagogical implication, teachers could foster students’ willingness to learn with either instrumental motivation, i.e. by raising awareness of the benefit of foreign language ability, or with integrative motivation, i.e. by raising students’ interest in the culture or people whose language was being studied. Besides, language learners, or language teachers, might reflect on this research to complement formal-classroom learning with a large degree of informal-independent learning.

Depression, anxiety and stress in social work students during COVID-19 confinement. A comparative study of Spanish and Mexican universities

ABSTRACT This study compares mental health problems among Social Work students at Spanish and Mexican universities during confinement due to COVID-19. A total of 1,252 undergraduate students completed an online survey, including demographic variables, related to COVID-19, perceived social support and levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Students from Spain, compared to those from Mexico, reported statistically higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Analyzing the associated risk and protective factors, differences were found between students from Spain and Mexico. Notably, social support was a significant protective factor in both countries during the COVID-19 crisis to improve their mental health levels.

Intrinsic and extrinsic factors associated with phlebitis in hospitalized patients: Systematic Review [Factores intrínsecos y extrínsecos asociados a flebitis en pacientes hospitalizados: Revisión Sistemática

Nursing care in central and peripheral venous access is part of nursing work, and the quality of care is affected by the presence of phlebitis in various hospitalization areas. Therefore, factors related to phlebitis are identified. Objective: To analyze the development of scientific evidence on intrinsic and extrinsic factors associated with phlebitis in hospitalized patients. Methodology: A literature search was carried out in databases over the last ten years. There was no language restriction, studies in English, Spanish and Portuguese published in full-text indexed journals were included. A critical analysis of each selected article was carried out, creating a matrix for ordering and categorizing. Results: From a total of 64 articles, 9 were included of which 2 were English and 7 in Portuguese, whose results were that there are intrinsic factors specific to the patient, extrinsic factors that correspond to factors that can be avoidable by the nursing professional when identified. Conclusions: Phlebitis is considered an indicator of nursing service quality. In the course of the article reviews, multiple factors related to phlebitis have been identified, with which preventive, corrective and educational measures should be taken in the areas where venous accesses are manipulated, avoiding future complications, as well as improving the quality of care reflected in the indicators of phlebitis with a zero result as a goal.

Comprehensive geriatric assessments for long‐term and home care settings and digital platforms available to support their applicability: A systematic review

AbstractBackgroundIntegrated care delivery is regarded as the most effective way of care provisioning to tackle challenges of dementia care, such as uncoordinated care, risk of hospitalizations, care planning and unmet needs. As Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments (CGAs) incorporate the key principles of integrated care, implementing CGAs in care practice might be highly relevant. However, this implementation should be supported by Digital Health Interventions in order to reach the full CGA capacity.Aims: To present the state‐of‐the‐art evidence on available CGAs for long‐term and home care, and digital platforms supporting the administration of CGAs.MethodsTwo search strategies were conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science. One focused on the validity and reliability of available CGAs for long‐term and home care settings, and the second search comprised digital platforms that support CGAs. Studies in English and Spanish and published up to July 30, 2020 were considered.ResultsA total of 73 studies reporting on the validity/reliability of 14 different CGAs, and five papers describing four digital platforms supporting CGAs were identified. Most of the CGAs covered a wide range of domains, evidence for good to excellent validity and reliability was reported for various instruments. Digital platforms showed some limitations and barriers regarding their usability and feasibility.ConclusionForemost, strong evidence of good to excellent validity and reliability was found for the Resident Assessment Instrument‐Minimum Data Set (RAI‐MDS) and subsequent updated instruments, similar results have been reported for multiple countries. For this reason, we recommend the use of its latest versions for long‐term care facilities and home care, the interRAI LTCF and interRAI HC. Regarding the digital platforms supporting CGAs, the inclusion of safe data storage, automatic notifications for assessment completion, individualized profile reports, automatic calculation of final outcomes, and facilitation of multidisciplinary assessments, were identified as key features to enhance their implementation. This project is part of the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions Innovative Training Network H2020‐MSCA‐ITN, under grant agreement number 813196.

Technological resources for teaching and learning about human anatomy in the medical course: Systematic review of literature.

The consolidation of technology as an alternative strategy to cadaveric dissection for teaching anatomy in medical courses was accelerated by the recent Covid-19 pandemic, which caused the need for social distance policies and the closure of laboratories and classrooms. Consequently, new technologies were created, and those already been developed started to be better explored. However, information about many of these instruments and resources is not available to anatomy teachers. This systematic review presents the technological means for teaching and learning about human anatomy developed and applied in medical courses in the last ten years, besides the infrastructure necessary to use them. Studies in English, Portuguese, and Spanish were searched in MEDLINE, Scopus, ERIC, LILACS, and SciELO databases, initially resulting in a total of 875 identified articles, from which 102 were included in the analysis. They were classified according to the type of technology used: three-dimensional (3D) printing (n = 22), extended reality (n = 49), digital tools (n = 23), and other technological resources (n = 8). It was made a detailed description of technologies, including the stage of the medical curriculum in which it was applied, the infrastructure utilized, and which contents were covered. The analysis shows that between all technologies, those related to the internet and 3D printing are the most applicable, both in student learning and the financial cost necessary for its structural implementation.

Latin American Consensus on the Management of Sepsis in Children: Sociedad Latinoamericana de Cuidados Intensivos Pediátricos [Latin American Pediatric Intensive Care Society] (SLACIP) Task Force: Executive Summary.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis in children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), more specifically in Latin America. Design: A panel was formed consisting of 27 experts with experience in the treatment of pediatric sepsis and two methodologists working in Latin American countries. The experts were organized into 10 nominal groups, each coordinated by a member. Methods: A formal consensus was formed based on the modified Delphi method, combining the opinions of nominal groups of experts with the interpretation of available scientific evidence, in a systematic process of consolidating a body of recommendations. The systematic search was performed by a specialized librarian and included specific algorithms for the Cochrane Specialized Register, PubMed, Lilacs, and Scopus, as well as for OpenGrey databases for grey literature. The GRADEpro GDT guide was used to classify each of the selected articles. Special emphasis was placed on search engines that included original research conducted in LMICs. Studies in English, Spanish, and Portuguese were covered. Through virtual meetings held between February 2020 and February 2021, the entire group of experts reviewed the recommendations and suggestions. Result: At the end of the 12 months of work, the consensus provided 62 recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric sepsis in LMICs. Overall, 60 were strong recommendations, although 56 of these had a low level of evidence. Conclusions: These are the first consensus recommendations for the diagnosis and management of pediatric sepsis focused on LMICs, more specifically in Latin American countries. The consensus shows that, in these regions, where the burden of pediatric sepsis is greater than in high-income countries, there is little high-level evidence. Despite the limitations, this consensus is an important step forward for the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric sepsis in Latin America.

Effectiveness of different health delivery agents of parenting stimulation interventions on child development outcomes among children aged 0 to 36 months: a systematic review protocol.

This review will evaluate the effectiveness of different health delivery agents of parenting stimulation interventions versus usual care, no intervention, or a different type of delivery agent on child development outcomes among children aged 0 to 36 months. Stimulation interventions vary in terms of implementation. While some interventions are delivered by professionals, most are delivered by non-professionals. Several prior systematic reviews on this topic have been conducted; however, no known study has evaluated the effectiveness of stimulation interventions on child development by type of delivery agent. This review will consider randomized controlled trials assessing parenting stimulation interventions delivered by different health delivery agents. These will be compared to usual care, no intervention, or a different delivery agent, targeted at caregiver-child dyads of children aged 0 to 36 months. The outcomes will include motor, language, cognitive, and socio-emotional development. The review will exclude studies including children with specific characteristics, interventions that do not focus on parenting, and protocols of randomized clinical trials. The review will include both published and unpublished studies. The key information sources to be searched are: MEDLINE, APA (PsycNet), Embase, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, CINAHL, VHL Regional Portal, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Theses Canada Portal, and Library and Archives Canada. Studies in English, Spanish, and Portuguese will be included. Critical appraisal and data extraction will be conducted using standardized tools. Quantitative data, where possible, will be pooled in statistical meta-analysis, or if statistical pooling is not possible, the findings will be reported narratively. PROSPERO CRD42021245245.

Vaccination uptake amongst older adults from minority ethnic backgrounds: A systematic review.

BackgroundOlder adults from minority ethnic backgrounds are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe infection and have increased risk of mortality. Whilst an age-based vaccination approach prioritising older groups is being implemented worldwide, vaccine hesitancy is high amongst minority ethnic groups.Methods and findingsWe conducted a systematic review and convergent synthesis to systematically examine perceptions of vaccinations amongst older adults from minority ethnic backgrounds. We included studies that reported on perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes towards vaccinations in older adults aged ≥65 years from a minority ethnic background. We excluded studies of vaccinations in investigation or development, studies focused on specific medical conditions, studies where ethnic background or age group was unidentifiable, systematic reviews, editorials, and conference abstracts. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Virtual Health Library, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, medRxiv, and PROSPERO databases from inception to 15 July 2021. Risk of bias for studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. The quality of evidence of collective outcomes was estimated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation–Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research (GRADE–CERQual) framework. A total of 28 eligible studies conducted between 1997 and 2020 were included in the final analysis (17 quantitative surveys, 8 focus group or interview studies, 2 mixed methods studies, and 1 case–control study). The majority were US studies in English or Spanish, except for 6 studies set in Hong Kong, 2 studies in Japan, 1 study in Brazil, and 1 multi-centre study (including China, Indonesia, Turkey, South Korea, Greece, UK, Brazil, and Nigeria). In total, 28,262 individuals with an estimated mean age of 69.8 years were included, 63.2% of whom were female. We summarised the common concepts and themes across studies and populations using a convergent synthesis analysis. Thirteen themes categorised as barriers or facilitators were identified and grouped into structural factors—healthcare provider and system related, patient related, and policy and operational—and were analysed by minority ethnic group. The main limitation of the study was the predominance of studies from the US and East Asia.ConclusionsIn this systematic review, we found that factors influencing vaccination uptake involve healthcare provider and system, patient-related, and governance-level factors that are specific to the older ethnic minority community being served. The evidence included in this review is supported by high or moderate certainty and can be translated to practice and policy. A tailored, multi-level approach combining increased education, access, and culturally competent discussions with trusted healthcare professionals to address health beliefs can maximise the potential impact of widespread vaccination policies.

The contribution of Area-Based Fisheries Management Measures to Fisheries Sustainability and Marine Conservation: a global scoping review protocol

Objective: This scoping review (ScR) aims to identify and map the evidence base on the contribution of area-based fisheries management measures (ABFMs) to fisheries sustainability and marine conservation. Emphasis will be given to the research that has been conducted in terms of the methodologies applied and the key findings acknowledged. Introduction: ABFMs have been used for centuries and are present in modern fisheries management plans and regulations. Although ABFMs are commonly related to the sustainable exploitation of the target species of the managed fishery, they may also be considered as wider conservation measures, in the cases where their outcomes include the protection or reduction of impact on biodiversity or ecosystem structures and functions. Inclusion criteria: Studies that perform an assessment of the contribution of ABFMs on either fisheries sustainability or on area-based marine conservation (or both) will be considered. All types of ABFMs in the marine realm globally, which are established as management measures by any type of designation authority or jurisdiction and for any type of fishing activity, gear, target species and/or habitats will be considered. Peer-reviewed and grey literature will be included. There will be no search limitations applied by year of publication. Studies in English, French, Greek, Italian, Spanish and Swedish will be reviewed. Methods: The ScR will be conducted in accordance with the JBI (Joanna Briggs Institute) methodology. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) extension for ScRs will guide the protocol. The bibliographic databases to be searched include Scopus and Web of Science. Sources of grey literature will include databases, pre-print archives, organisational websites and web-based search engines. The design of the search strategy will be guided by a librarian/ information specialist. The Zotero software, Sysrev platform and EviAtlas tool will be used for data management, extraction and presentation. Data will be extracted by two reviewers. Tables, graphs and maps along with a narrative summary of the outcomes will be presented.

409 - Psychometric features of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments (CGAs) in long-term and community care settings: A Systematic Review

Background:Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments (CGAs) incorporate the key principles of integrated care delivery, which is regarded as the most effective approach of care provisioning to face challenges of dementia care, such as uncoordinated care, risk of hospitalizations, care planning and unmet needs. For this reason, implementing CGAs in care practice might be highly relevant, however, to do so, we must consider their psychometric characteristics.Research Objective:To provide insight into the content and the reliability and validity of CGAs used in long-term care and home care settings.Method:A search strategy was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science, targeting studies that have focused on the validity and reliability of available CGAs for long-term and home care settings. Studies in English and Spanish and published up to July 13, 2021, were considered.Preliminary results of the ongoing study:A total of 72 studies reporting on the validity/reliability of 13 different CGAs were identified. For long-term care facilities, five CGAs were reported; for home care, eight assessment tools were targeted. Most of the CGAs covered a wide range of domains, such as Physical Health, Functional, Mental Health, and Social Status. Evidence for good to excellent validity and reliability was reported for various instruments.Conclusion:Resident Assessment Instrument-Minimum Data Set (RAI-MDS) and subsequent updated instruments reported strong evidence of good to excellent validity and reliability for multiple countries. For this reason, interRAI LTCF and interRAI HC are recommended to be use for long-term and home care facilities, as they are the latest versions of the RAI-MDS.This project is part of the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions Innovative Training Network H2020-MSCA-ITN, under grant agreement number 813196

410 - A Systematic Review on Digital Health Interventions (DHIs) supporting the administration of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments (CGAs) use in long-term and home care settings

Background:Health systems are in the need for novel approaches to tackle the challenges from the demographic transition to ageing populations. An effective approach to face these challenges is integrated care delivery. Implementing Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments (CGAs) in Health Ageing might be highly relevant to incorporate this approach. However, this implementation should be supported by Digital Health Interventions (DHIs) in order to reach their full capacity.Research Objective:To identify the DHIs facilitating the administration of CGAs used in long-term care and home care settings and provide an insight on their characteristics and stage of maturity and evaluation.Method:A search strategy was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science, targeting studies evaluating the DHIs facilitating the administration of CGAs used in long-term care and home care settings. Studies in English and Spanish and published up to July 26, 2021 were considered.Preliminary results of the ongoing study:A total of four papers describing three digital platforms supporting the administration of the CGAs were identified. Information on implementation reported less completion of some sections affecting the CGAs outcomes, assessments mostly being the responsibility of nurses, and missing data related with less quality of care. Limitations and barriers regarding their usability and feasibility were also identified.Conclusion:The inclusion of safe data storage, automatic notifications for assessment completion, automatic calculation of final outcomes, and facilitation of multidisciplinary assessments, were identified as key features to enhance the implementation of digital platforms facilitating the administration of CGAs. Nonetheless, information regarding technical features and hardware information of the digital platforms was scarce.This project is part of the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions Innovative Training Network H2020-MSCA-ITN, under grant agreement number 813196

Long-Term Care Facilities and Nursing Homes during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review of the Perspectives of Professionals, Families and Residents

The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant repercussions for nursing home residents, their families, and professionals. The objective was to describe the perspectives of residents, their families, and nursing home employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. A scoping review was carried out using the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews. The inclusion criteria were: qualitative and/or mixed methods studies in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. The review covers studies published from 11 March 2020 to 15 February 2021. CINAHL, PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Scopus, British Nursing Index, Proquest, PsycInfo, and Google Scholar databases were used. We conducted a systematic narrative synthesis, presenting the results narratively and showing descriptive statistics on the studies reviewed. Sixteen documents were obtained from 175 results. Two studies focused on residents and one on their families. The remaining studies looked at professionals. Nursing homes had great difficulty managing resources, which was exacerbated by emotional exhaustion among residents, employees, and family members. In nursing homes, creative initiatives and new forms of leadership appeared to meet emerging needs during the pandemic. The results of the study show the impact of the pandemic on nursing homes and the response capacity present among residents, family members, and professionals.

Linguistic Variation in the Acquisition of Morphosyntax: Variable Object Marking in the Speech of Mexican Children and Their Caregivers

ABSTRACT Research in language development has only recently begun to focus on the inherent variability of language. Previous studies have explored at what age children begin to produce variable linguistic forms and how these forms progress through development. While children produce adult-like variation early on, some variable forms take longer to acquire than others do. The current study builds on this previous research using naturalistic corpus data to compare variable differential object marking in the speech of Spanish-speaking children and their caregivers. While previous studies of adult speech have highlighted the variable use of the accusative object marker a, the variable distribution of the a-marker has been largely overlooked in studies of child Spanish. Our results show that preschool-age children use the same linguistic constraints as their caregivers when producing direct objects. We also found that younger children show different patterns of a-marking compared to older children and caregivers. These patterns suggest that the developmental trajectory of individual linguistic constraints depends on the distribution of variable contexts in the child’s input. Our findings highlight the importance of examining caregivers’ use of variable forms alongside children’s productions in language acquisition research.

Radiological and functional pulmonary complications in patients recovered from COVID-19

Background: The COVID-19 disease caused by the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which appeared at the end of 2019 in Hubei Province, Wuhan Region of the People's Republic of China. Objective: To determine radiological and functional pulmonary complications in patients recovered from COVID-19. Methods: We included observational studies, studies of radiological and functional pulmonary complications related to COVID-19 in patients discharged from hospital, studies of available text and studies in English and Spanish. A formal narrative synthesis of the collected data was carried out; no formal statistical synthesis was carried out. The synthesis focused on qualitative analysis. The methodological quality of the articles was assessed using the quality assessment tools of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Results: In this systematic review it was observed that the functional pulmonary complications that the patients manifested were: 45.05 % of impaired diffusion capacity (DLCO), 30.1 % of restrictive pattern (FEV1) and 20.4 % of obstructive pattern (FEV1/FVC). Radiological complications were: 59.7% ground-glass opacity (GGO), 18.75% consolidation, 9.3% bronchiectasis, 6% thickening of the underlying pleura, 3.9% thickening of the interlobular septum, 3.83% crazy-paving and 0.96% pleural effusion. Conclusion: This review concludes that post-COVID-19 infection patients showed impaired lung and radiological functions, with DLCO and GGO being the most important.

Therapeutic ultrasound as a treatment for chronic rhinosinusitis: A systematic review.

To investigate the effects of therapeutic ultrasound in symptoms of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. Searches were carried out in the MEDLINE (via OVID), SCOPUS, PubMed and Virtual Health Library databases. The study selection is as follows: Pre-experimental and experimental studies in English, Spanish and Portuguese that evaluated the effects of ultrasound on the signs and symptoms of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis were included. After study selection, data extraction, risk of bias and quality assessment, we performed a qualitative description of current data. Nine studies were selected, providing 309 participants (20 to 47 volunteers in each study), with an average age of 44.5years. Three studies had assumed pretest-posttest design, four studies were single-blinded randomized controlled trial and the two studies were double-blinded randomized controlled trial. The modalities of ultrasound investigated were pulsed and continuous, and the studies evaluated the ultrasound effects immediately after one session or after a few sessions of treatment (6, 10 or 15 sessions). The use of ultrasound, in both continuous and pulsed modalities, demonstrated to reduce characteristic signs and symptoms of chronic rhinosinusitis. Despite these results, only two studies had a low risk of bias. A meta-analysis was not possible due to the huge heterogeneity of included studies. Despite ultrasound in continuous and pulsed modalities showing similar positive effects in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis, the studies are small, short duration, poor design and with a high risk of bias. Thereby, ultrasound cannot be appointed as a potential adjunct resource to current methods of treating chronic rhinosinusitis until large randomised controlled studies are performed.

Foster Families: A Systematic Review of Intention and Retention Factors

Background: Compared to residential care, family foster care is the preferable type of alternative care for neglected or abused children as it provides a familiar context that supports children’s developmental needs. New foster families are needed to care for these children. Objective: This systematic review aims to provide a critical analysis of the literature, identifying factors that explain the intention to become and to continue as a foster family. This review was performed following the PRISMA checklist and guidelines, through a search conducted in the following databases (no restrictions were made): PsycArticles, PsycInfo, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, Academic Search Complete, ERIC, Scopus, and Web of Science. Study eligibility: The review includes empirical quantitative and/or qualitative studies in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, with community and/or foster parents’ samples and explores the factors for becoming and/or retention of foster parents. Results: Forty-nine studies were included. The results revealed that the intention to become a foster parent is largely influenced by motivational factors, personal and family characteristics, individual values and beliefs, social context influences, and perceived familiarity with the child protection system. The retention of foster families is closely related to factors within the child protection system, personal or family characteristics, foster child characteristics, and placement challenges. The relationship with agencies and professional support stands out as the most important factors. Limitations and Implications: This review did not include studies focused on children with specific needs and characteristics, and future research should consider the particular challenges of fostering this group. Practice implications of these findings for the recruitment, selection, and retention of foster families will be discussed.

“Corporate Sustainability” or “Corporate Social Responsibility”? A Comparative Study of Spanish and Latin American Companies’ Websites

This study aims to compare how leading companies in Spain and in Spanish-speaking Latin America communicate corporate social responsibility or sustainability on their web pages. For this purpose, the pages of 68 companies were examined to establish the accessibility of such topics and to trace how their prominence and wording had evolved over time. The results show a trend toward greater uniformity in both Spain and Latin America, with corporate social responsibility/sustainability discourse gaining in prominence and “responsibility”-related terms being gradually replaced by those related to “sustainability.” Various cases hint that changes in terminology may be unrelated to any clear distinction between both terms.

Aproximación al trasvase automático de predicados de FrameNet al español mediante WordNet

<p>In the field of Natural Language Processing, linguistic resources are structured and detailed descriptions of a certain language. They are considered as key elements for studying languages and developing applications. However, these repositories are slow and difficult to build, and most of them focuses on English. This work tries to improve the lack of linguistic resources in Spanish by transferring part of the information encoded in the FrameNet project into Spanish. For this purpose, we developed an automatic procedure able to align the different frame predicates with the WordNet synsets that best represent them. Our system reaches an 88% precision and makes it possible to reuse this semantic resource for linguistic studies in Spanish.</p>

Analysis of Effectiveness and Psychological Techniques Implemented in mHealth Solutions for Middle-Aged and Elderly Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: A Narrative Review of the Literature.

Background: in diabetes, multiple mHealth solutions were produced and implemented for self-management behaviors. However, little research on the effectiveness of psychological techniques implemented within these mHealth solutions was carried out, and even less with the elderly population where technological barriers might exist. Reliable evidence generated through a comprehensive evaluation of mHealth interventions may accelerate its growth for successful long-term implementation and to help to experience mHealth benefits in an enhanced way in all ages. Objective: this study aimed to review mHealth solutions for diabetes self-management in older adults (adherence to treatments and glycemic control) by analyzing the effectiveness of specific psychological techniques implemented. Methods: a narrative review was conducted following preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. PubMed (Medline) and American Psychological Association (APA) PsycInfo databases were searched for published papers that addressed eHealth solutions’ effectiveness for diabetes self-management. Studies in English, Spanish, and/or German of any design were screened, with no time constraints regarding the year of publication. A qualitative analysis of the selected papers was conducted in several steps. Results: this review found 38 studies setting up and analyzing mHealth solutions for older adults. Most research showed improvements in HbA1c, self-management behaviors, and medication adherence in T2DM patients post intervention. However, different mid-to-long term effects were found across studies, specifically concerning the maintenance and adherence to healthy behaviors. The most employed psychological framework was CBT, including techniques such as self-monitoring of outcome behaviors (mostly targeting glycemia measurements and healthy habits as physical activity and/or diet), tailored motivational feedback from medical staff, and psychoeducation or health coaches. The most successful mHealth intervention combined the feature of tailored feedback messages, interactive communication with healthcare professionals, and multifaceted functions. Conclusions: there is a lack of elaborate and detailed information in the literature regarding the factors considered in the design and development of mHealth solutions used as interventions for T2DM self-management in the elderly. Documentation and inclusion of such vital information will foster a transparent and shared decision-making process that will ultimately lead to the development of useful and user-friendly self-management apps that can enhance the quality of life for diabetes patients. Further research adapting mHealth solutions to older adults’ sensory deficits is necessary.

Focus at the syntax–discourse interface in L2 Spanish: Optionality and unaccusativity reconsidered

We examine the second language (L2) acquisition of variable Spanish word order by first language (L1) speakers of English via the acquisition of unaccusative and transitive predicates in various focus-related contexts. We employ two bimodal linguistic tasks: (1) acceptability judgment task (B-AJT) and (2) appropriateness preference task (B-APT). Both present contextualized prompts similar to previous studies, followed by response options with accompanying audio to control for intonation and pauses. Results suggest a number of key findings: (1) by the high intermediate level, L2ers acquire the relevant syntactic and syntax information structure interface competencies for both predicate types; (2) native speakers and L2 groups exhibit optionality, and only differ in nuanced ways; and (3) advanced learners show signs of acquiring syntactic and syntax–information structure competencies in numerous contexts, but display minor differences regarding optionality with corrective focus, an interface incorporating multiple interfaces (syntax–prosody pragmatics). Unlike the predictions of the Interface Hypothesis (IH), this subtle, non-native-like divergence is characterized by divergent knowledge of optionality similar to that found among native speakers. Attempting to understand more completely the development of native-speaker optionality, we also conduct a corpus study of child-directed Spanish from CHILDES and find that, although syntactic theory explains much of the data, it cannot account for all of the variability in the data. Results suggest that children are exposed to apparent optionality from the earliest stages.