And one of my students has just managed to get the review that led to her RCT published.

This paper aims to review the research evidence from existing communication skills training programmes that are exclusively or partly focused on the reduction of aggression perpetrated by patients. This review included one randomized controlled trial protocol, one quasi experimental study, six pre-test/post-test designs, three mixed methods, four qualitative studies, one descriptive survey and four with other designs that were mostly conducted in mental health settings. The findings show that communication skills training improve the confidence of staff in dealing with aggression. However, minimal number of studies with a focus on aggression reduction, the quality of the studies in terms of design and lack of active controlled trials minimizes the generalizability of the findings.

Baby M Gale C Swain N Communication skills training in the management of patient aggression and violence in healthcare, Aggression and Violent Behavior, 2018; 39: 67-82