Content and methodology of predoctoral Geriatric Dentistry teaching in Europe

Objectives: To explore the content and methodology of predoctoral Geriatric Dentistry teaching amongst European dental schools.
Methods: The study was conducted by the European College of Gerodontology (ECG) Education Committee. Αn electronic questionnaire has been developed with close and open-ended items, including information on the prevalence and institutional anchorage of Gerodontology programs, the educators, the content and the methodology of teaching. An electronic mail, including a hyperlink to the questionnaire, was sent to 216 dental schools in 39 European countries (Winter/ Spring 2016). The Deans were asked to either answer themselves, or forward the link to faculty members with knowledge on Gerodontology teaching at their respective schools. Repeated reminders or telephone calls were used for non-respondents and personal networks were exploited to identify potential contact persons.
Results: Until August 2016, 121 dental schools from 29 countries responded to the survey (response rate 56%, EU response rate: 60%). Gerodontology was included in the predoctoral curricula of 86% of the respondents and was compulsory in 68%. The course was mainly offered in senior students and was interdisciplinary in 30% of the schools, delivered mainly by dentists (79%), physicians (21%), psychologists (10%), and nurses (5%). It was conducted as an independent lecture series in 40% of the schools and a course director was assigned in 44% of the respondents. When embedded in other disciplines, these were mainly Prosthodontics (31%). The content included a large number of items, such as epidemiology of oral health, medical problems in old age, prosthodontic management, xerostomia, and caries risk assessment. Lectures were the most common teaching format (69%), followed by small group seminars (27%). The most common types of educational material used were scientific articles (48%), printed textbooks (44%), lecture notes (40%) and e-learning material (21%). Clinical training was offered by 64% of the respondents, within the dental school clinics (49%) and/or in outreach locations (40%).
Conclusion: Amongst the respondent European dental schools (66%) there is an increasing number that teach Gerodontology at a pre-doctoral level with significant variations in content and methodology. Official guidelines and the dissemination of the ECG pre-doctoral curriculum guidelines might help to increase the prevalence and improve the status of Gerodontology teaching in Europe.

Gender Differences in Early Reading Strategies: a Comparison of Synthetic Phonics Only with a Mixed Approach to Teaching Reading to 4-5 Year-Old Children

A survey of primary schools in England found that girls outperform boys in English across all phases (Ofsted in Moving English forward. Ofsted, Manchester, 2012). The gender gap remains an on-going issue in England, especially for reading attainment. This paper presents evidence of gender differences in learning to read that emerged during the development of a reading scheme for 4- and 5-year-old children in which 372 children from Reception classes in sixteen schools participated in 12-month trials. There were three arms per trial: Intervention non-PD (non-phonically decodable text with mixed methods teaching); Intervention PD (phonically decodable text with mixed methods teaching); and a ‘business as usual’ control condition SP (synthetic phonics and decodable text). Assignment to Intervention condition was randomised. Standardised measures of word reading and comprehension were used. The research provides statistically significant evidence suggesting that boys learn more easily using a mix of whole-word and synthetic phonics approaches. In addition, the evidence indicates that boys learn to read more easily using the natural-style language of ‘real’ books including vocabulary which goes beyond their assumed decoding ability. At post-test, boys using the nonphonically decodable text with mixed methods (Intervention A) were 8 months ahead in reading comprehension compared to boys using a wholly synthetic phonics approach.

Teaching down or learning up

Résumé : L'élément important que cette thèse sous-tend est que l'enseignement efficace n'est pas seulement constitué de techniques et de méthodologie, mais plutôt d'attitude et d'approche envers l'enseignement. Ceci ne veut pas nécessairement dire que plusieurs méthodes d'enseignement reçues dans un cours avec l'intention d'optimaliser les mécanismes de transmission et d'assimilation de la matière sont inappropriées. Cependant, l'absence de ce que nous pourrions définir comme un ton pédagogique est essentiel, c'est-à-dire, qu'une attitude positive à la productivité autant vis-à-vis de la matière à transmettre que vis-à-vis de l'individu impliqué dans "l'acte" de réception versus la découverte, aura davantage de succès. Toute autre méthode sera complètement inefficace, inaccessible, voire même inutile. D'emblée, dans l'hypothèse de départ, l'argument principal présente une attitude générale d'enseignement à divers échelons ; soit au niveau secondaire ou collégial qui est inappropriée, incomplète ou négative. En d'autres mots, cette approche thérapeutise l'éducation. Dans l'exercice de cette approche, l'enseignant ou l'enseignante adopte plutôt le rôle d'un thérapeute que celui d'un éducateur. De ce fait, le professeur en situation a une approche plutôt de thérapeute que celle de maître-précepteur et que la matière présentée est souvent diluée, et réduite à des niveaux d'apprentissage accompagnés de carences notoires et d'échecs académiques. Les attentes d'une performance dans le milieu académique sont souvent des plus modestes. Cette même tendance d'une éducation à la baisse est évidente aussi dans le processus d'évaluation. Il est certain que dans les disciplines non scientifiques, l'évaluation formative a grandement suivi l'évaluation normative conduisant le précepteur, tour à tour, dans une évaluation dormative dans laquelle l'effort et l'intention remplacent les aptitudes et les habilitées réelles. Si l'approche pédagogique est vraiment l'élément crucial de l'éducation, il Importe que l'approche générale influence le climat de l'éducation contemporaine, de fait, devienne un palliatif contre-productif souvent réhabilitant. De plus, cette pseudo-thérapie d'où d'écoule une attitude exigeante envers l'enseignant et l'apprenant dont le fondement est la reconnaissance des impératifs culturels qui en sont le reflet et le corps doit-être affirmé et transposé dans la réalité. Cette dernière comprend des attentes très poussées en ce qui concerne la performance en classe et aussi le respect de la matière qui contient la présentation routinière et fondamentale; renouveau intense du processus d'évaluation qui fournira des standards communs et des objectifs externes dans l'évaluation du travail de l'étudiant. Cette connaissance et domestication empirique que nous présente Vygotsky dans un climat contemporain qu'il a expliqué ces termes comme "des zones de développement proximales" basées sur la doctrine suivante que le bon apprentissage précède le développement et que conséquemment s'ensuit une pédagogie d'apprentissage plutôt qu'une pédagogie centrée sur l'apprenant. L'application significative de ces derniers principes ou de ces épistémologiques s'imbriquent dans une situation d'apprentissage ascentionnel dont la structure est détaillée et considérée par différentes perspectives de la recherche qui suit.||Abstract : The central tenet of this thesis is that effective teaching is not only and perhaps not primarily a matter of technique and methodology but of attitude and approach. This is not to say that diverse methods of classroom instruction intended to optimize the mechanics of transmission and the assimilation of data are inappropriate but that in the absence of what we might denominate as a certain pedagogical tone. that is, a productive attitude toward both the material to be conveyed and the individuel engaged in the 'act' of reception-and-discovery, even the most powerful methods will be differentially unavailing or, at best, inefficient. Given this initial assumption, the argument proceeds that the general attitude toward instruction currently in place at the secondary echelons, that is, on the high school and college levels, may be popularly represented as a 'teaching down' approach, in other words, as one which seeks to therapeuticize education. In practice this means that the teacher tends to manifest in situ more as a therapist than as a preceptor, that the material to be presented is frequently diluted or scaled down to perceived levels of cognitive (dis)ability (as is also the case with the rate of instruction), and that performance expectations in the current pedagogical milieu are commonly quite modest. The same downward trend is evident in assessment protocols as well. Certainly in the nonscientific disciplines, normative evaluation has been widely succeeded by formative evaluation, leading in turn to a peculiar kind of dormative evaluation in which intangibles such as effort and intention may deputize for realized ability. If pedagogical approach is indeed the crucial element in instruction, and if the general approach that pervades the contemporary climate of instruction is indeed counter-productively remedial or rehabilitory, that is, therapeutic, then it should follow that a more demanding attitude toward teaching and learning founded on the recognition of the culturel imperative which teaching both reflects and embodies needs to be re-affirmed and translated into practice. This latter would entail the maintenance of high expectations with regard to classroom performance, a respect for the material which precludes its routine mitigation or debasement, a renewed insistance on grading protocols that provide an external, 'objective' or communal standard against which the student's work can be measured, the empirical acknowledgment or domestication of what Vygotsky has termed "the zone of proximal development," based on the doctrine that good learning proceeds in advance of development, and conséquently, a learning-centered rather than learner-centered pedagogy. The meaningful application of this latter set of principles or epistemological gradients comprises the 'learning up' situation whose structure is excunined in some détail and considered from various perspectives in the ensuing.

The big four skills: Teachers’ assumptions on measurement of non-native students cognition

The four-skills on tests for young native speakers commonly do not generate correlation incongruency concerning the cognitive strategies frequently reported. Considering the non-native speakers there are parse evidence to determine which tasks are important to assess properly the cognitive and academic language proficiency (Cummins, 1980; 2012). Research questions: It is of high probability that young students with origin in immigration significantly differ on their communication strategies and skills in a second language processing context (1); attached to this first assumption, it is supposed that teachers significantly differ depending on their scientific area and previous training (2). Purpose: This study intends to examine whether school teachers (K-12) as having different origin in scientific domain of teaching and training perceive differently an adapted four-skills scale, in European Portuguese. Research methods: 77 teachers of five areas scientific areas, mean of teaching year service = 32 (SD= 2,7), 57 males and 46 females (from basic and high school levels). Main findings: ANOVA (Effect size and Post-hoc Tukey tests) and linear regression analysis (stepwise method) revealed statistically significant differences among teachers of different areas, mainly between language teachers and science teachers. Language teachers perceive more accurately tasks in a multiple manner to the broad skills that require to be measured in non-native students. Conclusion: If teachers perceive differently the importance of the big-four tasks, there would be incongruence on skills measurement that teachers select for immigrant puppils. Non-balanced tasks and the teachers’ perceptions on evaluation and toward competence of students would likely determine limitations for academic and cognitive development of non-native students. Furthermore, results showed sufficient evidence to conclude that tasks are perceived differently by teachers toward importance of specific skills subareas. Reading skills are best considered compared to oral comphreension skills in non-native students.

Learning strategies implemented by the students of Advanced Intensive English I courses for improving oral discourse in the Bachelor of Arts in English Teaching, Department of Foreign Languages, University of El Salvador, year 2014.

There are many learning strategies some, more successful than others when they are applied in a correct way. “Strategies are most successful when they are implemented in a system that encourages collaboration among staff and students, and in which each is a part of a well-planned whole system” (Johns Hopkins, 2000). Additionally, Learning strategies have become an effective instrument in the field of education because students can make use of several strategies in order to enhance their English level in terms of communication. To communicate in a meaningful way, it is important to express ideas inside and outside the classroom; it is part of the development and improvement of speaking.

Factors associated with gastro-duodenal disease in patients undergoing upper GI endoscopy at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana.

Background: There is a high prevalence of gastro-duodenal disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Peptic ulcer disease in dyspeptic patients, 24.5%, was comparable to prevalence of gastro-duodenal disease among symptomatic individuals in developed countries (12 – 25%). Limited data exists regarding its associated risk factors despite accumulating evidence indicating that gastroduodenal disease is common in Ghana. Objectives: This study investigates risk factors associated with gastro-duodenal disease at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana. Methods: This study utilized a cross-sectional design to consecutively recruit patients referred with upper gastro-intestinal symptoms for endoscopy. The study questionnaire was administered to study participants. Helicobacter pylori infection was confirmed by rapid-urease examination at endoscopy. Results: Of 242 patients sampled; 64 had duodenal ulcer, 66 gastric ulcer, 27gastric cancer and 64 non-ulcer dyspepsia. Nineteen (19) had duodenal and gastric ulcer while 2 had gastric ulcer and cancer. A third (32.6%) of patients had history of NSAIDuse. H. pylori was associated with gastric ulcer (p=0.033) and duodenal ulcer (p=0.001). There was an increased prevalence of duodenal ulcer in H. pylori-infected patients taking NSAIDs, P=0.003. Conclusion: H. pylori was a major risk factor for peptic ulcer disease. However, NSAID-related gastro-duodenal injury has been shown to be common in H. pylori infected patients. It highlights the need for awareness of the adverse gastro-intestinal effects in a H. pylori endemic area.

A NARRATIVE CASE STUDY EXAMINING THE EXPEREINCES OF MEN TEACHING SPECIAL EDUCATION IN THE ELEMENTARY GRADES

Over the past several decades, the landscape of the workplace has changed in many industrialized nations. In the United States this time period has seen the outright elimination or outsourcing of well-paying “blue collar” jobs. The workforce continues to evolve, change, and become more global, and men and women are making nontraditional occupational decisions, whether by choice or necessity. The traditional views of men and women have begun to shift. However, gender assumptions about masculinity have failed to keep pace with the shift. There are approximately 1.8 million elementary grade level teachers in United States public schools; of these, a mere 9% are male. The paucity of male teachers in the elementary grades has been a concern for many years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 86% of all special education teachers are female. In 2012, 86.2% of all special education teachers were female, and by the following year, the number had dropped to 80.4%. The evidence indicates that more men are embarking on nontraditional career paths. Despite theses changes there is minimal research looking at the experiences of men working as special education teachers My goal in this study was to obtain a better understanding of the influences on and the process by which men make the decision to pursuing a career teaching special education in the elementary grades. The study utilized social role theory (Eagly, 1987), and Stead’s (2014) social constructionist theory as well as Williams’ (1992) glass escalator proposition The findings of this study confirm some of the factors related to career choice, experiences and barriers faced by men in nontraditional careers detailed in the literature. Three themes emerged for each research question: Experiences, advocacy, and benefits. Three themes emerged around the second research question exploring the experiences of men in a female-concentrated profession: The male body, communication, and perception. Three themes arose around the third research question: administration, My Masculinity, and pay. The findings run counter to Williams’ glass escalator proposition, which posits men working in female-concentrated professions are at an advantage. The findings advance support for Buschmeyer’s theory of (2013) alternative masculinity.

Experience of collaboration between a Dutch surgical team in a Ghanaian Orthopaedic Teaching Hospital.

Background: Surgery is an indivisible, indispensable part of healthcare. In Africa, surgery may be thought of as the neglected stepchild of global public health. We describe our experience over a 3-year period of intensive collaboration between specialized teams from a Dutch hospital and local teams of an orthopaedic hospital in Effiduase-Koforidua, Ghana. Intervention: During 2010-2012, medical teams from our hospital were deployed to St. Joseph’s Hospital. These teams were completely self-supporting. They were encouraged to work together with the local-staff. Apart from clinical work, effort was also spent on education/ teaching operation techniques/ regional anaesthesia techniques/ scrubbing techniques/ and principles around sterility. Results: Knowledge and quality of care has improved. Nevertheless, the overall level of quality of care still lags behind compared to what we see in the Western world. This is mainly due to financial constraints; restricting the capacity to purchase good equipment, maintaining it, and providing regular education. Conclusion: The relief provided by institutions like Care-to-Move is very valuable and essential to improve the level of healthcare. The hospital has evolved to such a high level that general European teams have become redundant. Focused and dedicated teams should be the next step of support within the nearby future.

Effects of two teaching interventions on nursing students’ acquisition of competence in ECG interpretation

Purpose: Nurse ability to recognise patient arrhythmias could contribute to preventing in-hospital cardiac arrest. Research suggests that nurses and nursing students lack competence in electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two training strategies on nursing students’ acquisition of competence in ECG interpretation. Materials and methods: A controlled randomised trial with 98 nursing students. Divided in groups of 12–16, participants were randomly allocated to one of the following 3-h teaching intervention groups: 1) traditional instructor-led (TILG), and 2) flipped classroom (FCG). Participants’ competence in ECG interpretation was measured in terms of knowledge (%), skills (%) and self-efficacy (%) using a specifically designed and previously validated toolkit at pre-test and post-test. Two-way MANOVA explored the interaction effect between ‘teaching group’ and ‘time of assessment’ and its impact on participants’ competence. Within-group differences at pre-test and post-test were explored by carrying out paired t-tests. Between-group differences at pre- and post-test were examined by performing independent t-test analysis. Results: There was a statistically significant interaction effect between ‘teaching group’ and ‘time of assessment’ on participants’ competence in ECG interpretation (F(3,190) = 86.541, p = 0.001; Wilks’ Λ = 0.423). At pre-test, differences in knowledge (TILG = 35.12 ± 12.07; FCG = 35.66 ± 10.66), skills (TILG = 14.05 ± 10.37; FCG = 14.82 ± 14.14), self-efficacy (TILG = 46.22 ± 23.78; FCG = 40.01 ± 21.77) and all other variables were non-significant (p > 0.05). At post-test, knowledge (TILG = 55.12 ± 14.16; FCG = 94.2 ± 7.31), skills (TILG = 36.90 ± 16.45; FCG = 86.43 ± 14.32) and self-efficacy (TILG = 70.78 ± 14.55; FCG = 79.98 ± 10.35) had significantly improved, regardless of the training received (p < 0.05). Nonetheless, participants in the FCG scored significantly higher than participants in the TILG in knowledge, skills and self-efficacy (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Flipping the classroom for teaching ECG interpretation to nursing students may be more effective than using a traditional instructor-led approach in terms of immediate acquisition of competence in terms of knowledge, skills and self-efficacy. Further research on the effects of both teaching strategies on the retention of the competence will be undertaken.

Effects of two teaching strategies on the relationship between nursing students’ self-efficacy and performance in BLS/AED

Purpose: Nurses and nursing students are often first responders to in-hospital cardiac arrest events; thus they are expected to perform Basic Life Support (BLS) and use an automated external defibrillator (AED) without delay. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between nursing students’ self-efficacy and performance before and after receiving a particular training intervention in BLS/AED. Materials and methods: Explanatory correlational study. 177 nursing students received a 4-h training session in BLS/AED after being randomized to either a self-directed (SDG) or an instructor-directed teaching group (IDG).1 A validated self-efficacy scale, the Cardiff Test and Laerdal SkillReporter® software were used to assess students’ self-efficacy and performance in BLS/AED at pre-test, post-test and 3-month retention-test. Independent t-test analysis was performed to compare the differences between groups at pre-test. Pearson coefficient (r) was used to calculate the strength of the relationship between self-efficacy and performance in both groups at pre-test, post-test and retention-test. Results: Independent t-tests analysis showed that there were non-significant differences (p-values > 0.05) between groups for any of the variables measured. At pre-test, results showed that correlation between self-efficacy and performance was moderate for the IDG (r = 0.53; p < 0.05) and the SDG (r = 0.49; p < 0.05). At post-test, correlation between self-efficacy and performance was much higher for the SDG (r = 0.81; p < 0.05) than for the IDG (r = 0.32; p < 0.05), which in fact was weaker than at pre-test. Finally, it was found that whereas the correlation between self-efficacy and performance increased from the post-test to the retention-test to almost reach baseline levels for the ILG (r = 0.52; p < 0.05), it slightly decreased in this phase for the SDG (r = 0.77; p < 0.05). Conclusion: Student-directed strategies may be more effective than instructor-directed strategies at promoting self-assessment and, therefore, may help to improve and maintain the relationship between nursing student self-efficacy and actual ability to perform BLS/AED.

Smoking, depression, and suicide risk in the nursing staff of a Third-Level Hospital

Objective: To determine the association between smoking, depression and suicide risk in the Nursing Staff of a University Hospital. Materials and method: this was a non-experimental, correlational cross-range study with observational analysis carried out between May 2012 and May 2013. We studied 232 nurses of the “Dr. José Eleuterio gonzález” University Hospital. two self-administered scales were applied, one for depression and one for suicide risk. Another hetero-applied scale of nicotine dependency was also used, and the subjects’ socio-demographic records were reviewed. Results: A total of 527,232 nurses were studied. A smoking prevalence of 22.8% (53 subjects), an operational depression prevalence of 15.1% (35 subjects), and a suicide risk of 5.1% (12 subjects) were found. Gender and age, speciically being male and young (mean age 29.2 years) were found to increase the risk of smoking. We also found that those nurses who had a partner and had a higher level of education smoked less compared to those who did not have a partner or had a lower degree of education. there were hospital departments where there was a higher prevalence of smoking, such as Internal Medicine and Shock trauma. No association between smoking and the presence of depression was found. Regarding depression, we found that those nurses who worked in the Department of Pensioners were more likely to develop operational depression than those working in any other department. We also found that the risk of presenting operational depression decreases as age increases. About suicide risk, a statistically signiicant association between smoking and suicide risk was found. We also found an association between operational depression and suicide risk.Conclusions: It is recommended to consider nicotine dependence as a fundamental part of psychopathology assessment because of its strong association with suicide risk. this study emphasizes the complexity of the issue of the comorbidity of smoking and psychopathology and the need to continue research lines.

En/titled: The space where writing, editing and teaching intersect

Editing a literary magazine offers us a cultural space where our ideas and aesthetics can be expressed collectively and therefore be heard more effectively. This informs and frames our own writing by increasing our confidence in our own unusual voices. The sense of belonging Brand creates further breaks down the isolation of the writing life. The internationalism of Brand reinforces our own cultural identities as non-English writers. However, acting as a facilitator of others’ creativity can sometimes dissipate or even deplete creative energy. Editing and teaching can take over your writing to the point of annihilation. Further, in terms of external perceptions, you run the risk of disappearing as a writer. We shall look at how this can happen and explore ways that we can prevent it e.g. keeping the boundaries firm and clear.

Evaluation of the quality of the teaching-learning process in undergraduate courses in Nursing

Objective: to identify aspects of improvement of the quality of the teaching-learning process through the analysis of tools that evaluated the acquisition of skills by undergraduate students of Nursing. Method: prospective longitudinal study conducted in a population of 60 second-year Nursing students based on registration data, from which quality indicators that evaluate the acquisition of skills were obtained, with descriptive and inferential analysis. Results: nine items were identified and nine learning activities included in the assessment tools that did not reach the established quality indicators (p<0.05). There are statistically significant differences depending on the hospital and clinical practices unit (p<0.05). Conclusion: the analysis of the evaluation tools used in the article "Nursing Care in Welfare Processes" of the analyzed university undergraduate course enabled the detection of the areas for improvement in the teaching-learning process. The challenge of education in nursing is to reach the best clinical research and educational results, in order to provide improvements to the quality of education and health care.

Part-time and fractional staff in the learning and skills sector

This Universities and College Union Launch Event presentation reported on the findings of Learning and Skills Research Network (LSRN) London and South East (LSE) Regional Research Project. The presentation reflected on research carried out during 2002-06 on the development and deployment of part-time staff in the Learning and Skills Sector. Although the lifelong learning sector is the largest UK education sector, little attention has as yet been paid to the role of LSC sector part-time staff. Worrying trends of an increasing casualisation of staffing have been reported. The role of part-timers as highly committed (philanthropic) but generally underpaid and exploited staff (ragged-trousered) emerged from the data collected by this investigation, which examined the role of part-timers in several colleges and adult education institutions in London and the South East. The metaphor of the 'ragged-trousered philanthropist' was consciously selected to investigate the interactivity between philantrophy, employment practices for PT staff, and education as social action, in addressing the need for good practice to achieve quality outcomes in learning and teaching. The results are to some extent transferable to other education and training sectors employing part-time staff, e.g. higher education institutions and work-based training organisations.

Effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions to prevent falls in older people: a systematic overview. The SENATOR Project ONTOP Series

Background: Falls are common events in older people, which cause considerable morbidity and mortality. Non-pharmacological interventions are an important approach to prevent falls. There are a large number of systematic reviews of non-pharmacological interventions, whose evidence needs to be synthesized in order to facilitate evidence-based clinical decision making. Objectives: To systematically examine reviews and meta-analyses that evaluated non-pharmacological interventions to prevent falls in older adults in the community, care facilities and hospitals. Methods: We searched the electronic databases Pubmed, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PEDRO and TRIP from January 2009 to March 2015, for systematic reviews that included at least one comparative study, evaluating any non-pharmacological intervention, to prevent falls amongst older adults. The quality of the reviews was assessed using AMSTAR and ProFaNE taxonomy was used to organize the interventions. Results: Fifty-nine systematic reviews were identified which consisted of single, multiple and multi-factorial non-pharmacological interventions to prevent falls in older people. The most frequent ProFaNE defined interventions were exercises either alone or combined with other interventions, followed by environment/assistive technology interventions comprising environmental modifications, assistive and protective aids, staff education and vision assessment/correction. Knowledge was the third principle class of interventions as patient education. Exercise and multifactorial interventions were the most effective treatments to reduce falls in older adults, although not all types of exercise were equally effective in all subjects and in all settings. Effective exercise programs combined balance and strength training. Reviews with a higher AMSTAR score were more likely to contain more primary studies, to be updated and to perform meta-analysis. Conclusions: The aim of this overview of reviews of non-pharmacological interventions to prevent falls in older people in different settings, is to support clinicians and other healthcare workers with clinical decision-making by providing a comprehensive perspective of findings.