Nursing Students' Perceptions of Learning Through a Service Learning Programme with Older Adults Living in Poverty in...

Living in poverty negatively affects the biopsychosocial health of older adults. Nursing students need to develop competence to promote health and self-care behaviours amongst older adults living in poverty in high-income countries.

To explore nursing students' perceptions of a service learning programme aimed at promoting health and self-care among older adults living in poverty in a high-income country.

A descriptive qualitative study was conducted with 37 nursing students recruited from a university in Southeastern Spain. Participants completed a service learning programme in which they conducted preventive home visits to older adults living in poverty. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis.

Three key themes were developed: (1) service learning as a different way of learning, (2) as an active learning approach to bridge the theory-practice gap, and (3) to provide insight into an unknown side of nursing.

By providing opportunities for active, experiential learning in real-world contexts, service learning was perceived by the nursing students as a methodology that helps to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Participating in a service learning programme with older adults living in poverty not only fosters emotional engagement, reflective practice, and the development of essential non-technical skills in nursing students, but it also prepares them to advocate for older adults living in poverty in a high-income country.