Interprofessional Education Programme for Nursing and Physiotherapy Students Providing Home-Based Care to Older Adults

Background: The global ageing population has created a growing demand for healthcare services, particularly for older adults with chronic conditions and complex care needs. In Hong Kong, home-based community care services are delivered through government-NGO partnerships, allowing older adults to stay within their communities while enhancing their quality of life. Interprofessional education (IPE), which involves collaborative learning among students from different health and social care professions, is a proven approach to fostering teamwork, effective communication, and patient-centred care. However, IPE programmes in Hong Kong are often classroom-based, with limited opportunities for real-world application in community care settings.

Objectives: The project aims to assess the feasibility of an interprofessional home-based digital frailty management program that integrates professional education and community services, enhancing students' skills in providing holistic, home-based care, interprofessional teamwork and communication, and improving elderly health awareness, behavior, and outcomes.

Methods: With strong academic-community partnerships, 50 nursing and physiotherapy students will enrol in a 3-month clinical placement programme. Prior to the clinical placement, students will participate in a two-session training workshop, conducted by a multidisciplinary team including nurses, physiotherapists, and social workers. During the placement, students will conduct supervised home visits to approximately 60 families, involving around 100 older adults with mild impairments, focusing on the elderly's frailty, including brief health, frailty, and home safety assessments and education on medication adherence, healthy living habits, and the use of "HA Go" and instant messaging. Students will use a digital case management and handover platform to enter all elderly information, issues, management plans, and actions for handover and follow-up. For each visit, at least one of the team members will accompany students to conduct the visit. After the first home visit, Students will also deliver booster e-health mobile messages (twice a week for a month). One month after the first home visit, the second home visit to these elderly will be conducted by students to assess their health-related behaviour changes and improvement in home safety. Four levels of evalauation framework will be used to assess students' satisfaction with the program (reaction), changes in perceived skills and knowledge, or attitudes after program completion (competency), and the extent to which changes in professional behaviour in actual clinical work (clinical practice), changes in elderly's health-related behaviour (health care outcomes). The first three levels will be conducted for students through questionnaire surveys and qualitative interviews at three time points: prior to the training (T1), immediately after the completion of clinical placement (T2), and three months post-training (T3). The fourth level will be conducted for the elderly at the first home visit and one month after the first home visit. Findings will be disseminated through academic publications and conference presentations.

Expected Impacts: This programme will integrate student learning with community service, benefiting students, communities, academia, and policy. For students, it will enhance students' skills in interprofessional collaboration, communication, and holistic, person-centered care while building confidence through hands-on experience with digital case management platforms. The digital case management handover platform provides hands-on practice in case handover, management, action planning, and follow-up for elderly care, with potential applications in other programs or courses. For communities, it will promote healthier aging by improving health awareness, enabling early detection of concerns, and enhancing care services through regular student and teacher interactions. In academia and policy, it will provide evidence to guide educational approaches, support the adoption of digital tools, and promotes innovative healthcare education.

• Changes in students' clinical practice in team and patient interaction [Time frame: Prior to the training workshop; immediately after the follow-up home visit (4-week); three months after the training workshop]
• Changes in students' perceptions of interprofessional clinical education and collaborative practice [Time frame: Immediately after the training workshop; immediately after the follow-up home visit (4-week); three months after the training workshop]
• Students' perceived usefulness and ease of use of the digital handover platform [Time frame: Immediately after the follow-up home visit (4-week)]
• Changes in anxiety and depression symptoms among older adults [Time frame: During the first home visit (T1, baseline); during the follow-up home visit (T2, 4-week)]
• Changes in sleep quality among older adults [Time frame: During the first home visit (T1, baseline); during the follow-up home visit (T2, 4-week)]
• Changes in sense of loneliness among older adults [Time frame: During the first home visit (T1, baseline); during the follow-up home visit (T2, 4-week)]
• Changes in physical activity levels among older adults [Time frame: During the first home visit (T1, baseline); during the follow-up home visit (T2, 4-week)]
• Changes in happiness among older adults [Time frame: During the first home visit (T1, baseline); during the follow-up home visit (T2, 4-week)]
• Changes in frailty status among older adults [Time frame: During the first home visit (T1, baseline); during the follow-up home visit (T2, 4-week)]
• Changes in confidence in managing chronic illness among older adults [Time frame: During the first home visit (T1, baseline); during the follow-up home visit (T2, 4-week)]
• Changes in medication adherence among older adults [Time frame: During the first home visit (T1, baseline); during the follow-up home visit (T2, 4-week)]
• Changes in Polypharmacy Risk [Time frame: During the first home visit (T1, baseline); during the follow-up home visit (T2, 4-week)]