Facilitators and Barriers to Adoption of Mobile Learning Technologies in Undergraduate Health Professional Education in Clinical Environments: A Scoping Review

The increasing adoption of digital education, including mobile learning (mLearning), is transforming the training of future health professionals, offering advantages such as improved accessibility, timeliness, and affordability. While mLearning enhances clinical training by providing flexible access to information and supporting practical skills development, challenges such as inadequate resources and resistance from staff and patients need to be addressed for successful integration. This review aims to explore the factors for successful adoption of mLearning in clinical placements, providing valuable insights to inform best practices in its implementation. A scoping review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Arksey and O'Malley and Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology was applied. Searching 6 electronic databases plus manual searching returned 5178 articles, with 76 articles included in analysis. All studies were published between 2008 and 2024, with a significant proportion originating from Canada (n = 12), the United States (n = 12), the United Kingdom (n = 11), and Australia (n = 11). The majority of the studies involved nursing (n = 47) and medical (n = 24) students. The analysis revealed 6 facilitators and 6 barriers. It identified positive attitudes toward mobile applications, highlighting their role in enhancing education in clinical environment, organizing training, and improving patient care. However, barriers such as the absence of regulations, ethical concerns, and technical issues were also noted, along with the need to address information literacy and skills. Mapping research regarding facilitators and barriers for introducing mobile learning technologies into undergraduate education in clinical environment has helped in creating a set of solutions which are capable to ensure the success and sustainability of mLearning. These solutions should be considered at the innovation's design, implementation, and post-implementation stages to guarantee its effectiveness in education in clinical environments. This may help to enhance the learning experience, improve knowledge retention, and develop clinical skills, while providing a cost-effective solution for clinical training programs for healthcare professions. This, in turn, has positive implications for quality of care provided.