Social competences, and particularly good communication skills, are becoming increasingly important in contemporary professional environment. Although studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of different training strategies, many Lithuanian higher education institutions have not yet incorporated the training of communication skills in their curriculum. The aim of this paper is to assess the communication skills of healthcare students in Lithuania and indicate the benefits of their development. Students graduating from a variety of health sciences study programs (N=118) self-assessed their communication skills. The results show that participants their communication skills as average with some potential strengths, i.e. ability to talk about things of interest to every person in conversation, recognizing how others are reacting to what is being said, not interrupting others in the conversation, understanding other people’s feelings, ability to praise the person, etc. On the other hand, some skills and abilities need to be improved, i.e. expressing opinion in a non-aggressive manner, as well as thinking and speaking clearly, while being emotional.

Physical activity is an important factor for primary and secondary stroke prevention. The process of stroke rehabilitation includes early and late physical activity and exercise, which prevents further stoke and improve patients’ quality of life. MY WAY project, an ERASMUS+ SPORT program, is aimed at analyzing and developing or transferring best innovative practices related to physical activity and exercise enhancing health in poststroke patients. The aim of the study was to identify, analyze, and present the good practices and strategies to encourage participation in sport and physical activity and engage and motivate chronic stroke patients to perform physical activity changing their lifestyle and to maintain a high adherence to long‐term exercise‐based rehabilitation programs. Our results demonstrated that unified European stroke long‐term exercise‐based rehabilitation guidelines do not exist. It seems that low training frequency with high aerobic exercise intensity may be optimal for improved physical performance and quality of life in combination with a high adherence. It is important to optimize the training protocols suitable for each patient. The continuous education and training of the specialized professionals in this field and the presence of adequate structures and cooperation between different healthcare centers are important contributors. The clear objective for each country should be to systematically make the necessary steps to enhance overall exercise‐based stroke rehabilitation attendance in the long term. Long‐term interventions to support the importance of physical exercise and lifelong exercise‐based rehabilitation in chronic stroke patients should be created, what coincides with the goal of the MY WAY project.

Communication and social skills are becoming increasingly valuable in the 21st century. Despite increasing awareness of the importance of communication skills in modern healthcare practice, there is a lack of research that addresses this issue. The aim of this research is to assess the communication skills of healthcare professionals working in Lithuanian healthcare institutions. Respondents (n=1154) were asked to assess their own communication skills using the Interpersonal Communication Skills Inventory. The research revealed that sending clear message skills were the strongest and giving/getting feedback skills were the lowest for most of the respondents, including physicians, head nurses, nurse, nurse assistants, and other personnel. The strongest aspects were that respondents can talk to other people and others seemed to be interested and attentive when healthcare specialists were talking because in conversation they were trying to talk about things of interest to both them and the other persons. The respondents could recognize as well how others were reacting to what they were saying. However, they did not always care how other person feels about the point they try to make. Emotional interaction skills were the lowest for most of the respondents in this study. They saw a tendency to change the subject when other person’s feelings enter into the discussion and it was difficult for them to think when they were angry with someone. It was summarized that talking, listening, and emotional interaction skills of the respondents are the areas that need more consistent attention, and giving / getting feedback is the skill that needs much improvement.

Siekiant gerinti asmenų burnos sveikatos būklę pasaulyje kalbama apie odontologijos klinikų pacientų įgalinimą. Atliktas tyrimas, kurio tikslas – nustatyti tokių pacientų įgalinimo prielaidas. Vykdyta apklausa raštu, naudojant Pacientų įgalinimo klausimyną (PEI). Odontologijos klinikos pacientų bendras įgalinimo balo vidurkis yra 7,6 balo. Didesnis įgalinimas susijęs su moteriška pacientų lytimi, jaunesniu amžiumi, turimomis burnos sveikatos problemomis bei žinių, susijusių su burnos sveikatos problemomis, kaupimu. Pacientų įgalinimą didina ir gydytojo pažinojimas, pakankamas jo skiriamas laikas ir dėmesys pacientui.