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Objectives: To evaluate The Little Things training program, designed to assist personal care assistants (PCAs) from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds to communicate more effectively with aged care residents. Methods: This project included PCAs from residential aged care facilities (RACFs) and Certificate III students from registered training organisations (RTOs) in Melbourne, Australia. A control group (n = 18) was also included. Measures included the following: pre‐ and posttraining confidence to communicate and rankings of task importance; posttraining perceived change in confidence; and posttraining impacts on practice. Results: Altogether, 75 PCAs and 30 RTO students participated in Intake I of the training and 31 PCAs and 34 RTO students in Intake 2. Confidence increased in The Little Things participants relative to those in the control group (β = 0.11, T = 1.99, p = 0.05). Change did not vary by Intake or whether someone was in the RACF or RTO group, F (2, 147) = 0.58, p = 0.5; nor by sociodemographic characteristics. Most training participants (84%) thought their ability to communicate with older people would 'improve a lot' as a result of the training. Training participants also ranked the importance of duties such as 'Speaking in a friendly and informal way to older people' more highly after than before the training (p = 0.01), while little change was observed in the control group. Conclusions: The Little Things program increased training participants' confidence to communicate and shifted perceived priorities towards interacting with residents in a way that enhanced resident well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the winners of the 2022 Australasian Journal on Ageing Book Award which are "Creative Ageing and the Arts of Care: Reframing Active Ageing" by Elizabeth Brooke and "Creative Arts-Based Research in Aged Care: Photovoice, Photography, and Poetry in Action" by Evonne Miller.

The article announces that the books "Falls in Older People: Risk Factors and Strategies for Prevention," 2nd edition, by S. Lord, C. Sherrington, H. Menz, and J. Close and "Aged Care in Australia: A Guide for Aged Care Workers," by D. Dawbin and A. Rogers had received the 2008 "Australasian Journal on Ageing" Book Award.

The article presents the books "Contemporary Issues in Gerontology: Promoting Positive Ageing," by V. Minichiello and I. Coulson and "Forgetting But Not Forgotten: Understanding, Support and Spiritual Care for People With Dementia and Those Who Care for Them," by Noel Schultz which were nominated for the Australian Journal on Ageing Book Prize for 2005.