Students Coaching Older Adults in Digital Health Tool Use: Learning Outcomes from an Interprofessional Home–Visit Practicum in Hong Kong

Integrating digital health tools into community-based clinical practicums offers an opportunity to enhance student engagement and learning. This study examined how nursing and physiotherapy students’ experiences of coaching older adults to use a smartwatch and a mobile health application (HA Go), within a supervised interprofessional home-visit practicum, shaped their
learning outcomes.

This qualitative descriptive study was conducted during a three-month interprofessional community practicum delivered with a non-governmental organisation in Hong Kong. Thirty-seven nursing and physiotherapy students
conducted two supervised home visits with 80 communitydwelling older adults aged 60–98 with mild frailty, coaching them to use a wrist-worn smartwatch (monitoring step count, heart rate and SpO₂) and HA Go, the Hospital
Authority’s mobile health application. Structured written reflections were collected from 29 students, and semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 older adults.

Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis with two independent coders. Four themes emerged. (1) Real-world technology barriers as
authentic learning opportunities: older adults’ difficulties with smartwatch charging and pairing, failed biometric logins, and small text interfaces created unscripted problem-solving moments that students described as
highly meaningful. (2) Tailoring instruction to individual learner needs: students learnt to simplify technical instructions and adjust explanations to each older adult’s literacy level and cognitive pace, and viewed these skills as
transferable to wider clinical practice. (3) Recognising when technology does not fit: encountering older adults who were unwilling or unable to use digital tools deepened students’ understanding that person-centred care sometimes requires
deciding that technology is not appropriate and modifying their approach. (4) Growing confidence through repeated coaching: older adults reported increasing confidence and willingness to use the smartwatch and HA Go across two
visits, reinforcing students’ sense of professional impact and motivation.

This study examined student engagement in technologyenhanced learning when nursing and physiotherapy students coach older adults to use digital health tools
during community home visits. The findings show that older adults’ struggles with technology, rather than simply hindering the programme, acted as powerful learning stimuli that prompted students to problem-solve, adapt
their communication, and reflect on person-centred care.