Impact of Health Promotion Service-Learning for Older Adults in Physiotherapy Students

NCT07267832 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: CEISH/47/2022
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 83
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Currently, there is a lack of evidence regarding the impact of service-learning methodology (SL) on learning-related outcomes for physiotherapy students, specifically when designing and implementing health promotion programs for vulnerable older adults. The present study aims to compare the effects of an SL program versus a Traditional Learning (TL) approach on Basic Psychological Needs (BPN), motivation, academic engagement, and empathy in physiotherapy students. This study is a randomized clinical trial. Eighty-three physiotherapy students are allocated to an SL group (SLG) or to a TL group (TLG). All students develop a health promotion and therapeutic exercise program for vulnerable older adults, in order to carry out prevention and health promotion activities. The SLG performs the program with real patients by visiting health centers, while the TLG does not meet real patients. BPN, motivation, academic engagement, and empathy, in their different dimensions, are evaluated pre- and post-intervention. This study was registered retrospectively, as the recruitment and/or data collection had already started before registration.

Conditions

Healthy Students

Keywords

service-learning; physiotherapy; health promotion; teaching-learning methodology

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Basic Psychological Needs

  The fulfillment of Basic Psychological Needs is measured using the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSNF), which evaluates the extent to which individuals experience satisfaction or frustration regarding four fundamental psychological needs: autonomy, competence, relatedness, and novelty. For each need, participants respond to items assessing both satisfaction and frustration on a 5-point Likert scale, where higher scores indicate greater satisfaction or greater frustration, respectively.

  baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately after the intervention

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Motivation

  baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately after the intervention

• Academic engagement

  baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately after the intervention

• Empathy

  baseline (pre-intervention) and immediately after the intervention

Study Arms (2)

Service-Learning group

EXPERIMENTAL

Students work in groups to identify the needs of vulnerable older adults, researching and validating them with a mentor, combining individual and collaborative work, and culminating in the presentation and implementation of a health intervention, all accompanied by critical reflection on their personal and professional learning.

Other: health promotion through Service-Learning

Traditional Learning group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Students in the TL group follow a similar structure but do not engage directly with older adults. They identify needs solely through bibliographic research, review and discuss their findings with the teacher, and combine individual and group work. The intervention concludes with an oral presentation of the proposed health program to peers, illustrating it with examples.

Other: Health Promotion through Traditional Learning

Interventions

health promotion through Service-Learning OTHER

Students of the Service-Learning Group (SLG) put their plans into practice by directly interacting with older adults in health centers, allowing them to observe needs firsthand and apply interventions in real-life contexts.

Service-Learning group

Health Promotion through Traditional Learning OTHER

Students in the Traditional Learning Group (TLG) develop their programs based solely on literature and research, without direct contact with patients. They analyze the needs of older adults through bibliographic sources, discuss their findings with the instructor, and integrate both individual and group work into their process. The TLG finalizes their project by presenting the proposed program to classmates, using examples to illustrate its application.

Traditional Learning group

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• To be studying the Physiotherapy Degree in the Faculty of Physiotherapy of the University of Valencia.
• Willingness to participate

You may not qualify if:

• previous Service-Learning training

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Valencia: lead
• Hospital General Valencia: collaborator
• Hospital Universitario La Fe: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Department of Physiotherapy. Faculty of Physiotherapy. University of Valencia

Valencia, Valencia, 46010, Spain

Location

Study Officials

• Mercè Balasch i Bernat

  Department of Physiotherapy. Faculty of Physiotherapya. University of Valencia

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Outcomes assessor is blinded to participant group allocation
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Model Details: Randomized controlled trial

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 17, 2025
• First Posted: December 5, 2025
• Study Start: March 3, 2022
• Primary Completion: April 17, 2022
• Study Completion: April 17, 2022
• Last Updated: December 15, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

ES (1)