Perspectives of older adults with pre-frailty and frailty when engaging with an online nutrition educational resource: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Older adults with pre-frailty and frailty are vulnerable to malnutrition, yet often lack access to tailored, credible, and accessible nutrition education. Digital health tools offer a scalable solution, but little is known about how older adults with pre-frailty and frailty engage with them. This study explored the experiences of community-dwelling older adults with pre-frailty and frailty when engaging with an online nutrition educational resource to help people prevent and manage frailty. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted with community-dwelling older adults (≥ 65 years) who were screened as pre-frail or frail using the FRAIL scale. Participants were given access to an online nutrition educational resource for 2-4 weeks. Semi-structured interviews exploring participants' general interest in nutrition, their perspectives regarding the content, layout and usability of the online resource, and their learning preferences were conducted. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using codebook thematic analysis. RESULTS: 19 participants (mean age: 73.7 years) participated in this study, of which 14 were pre-frail (73.7%) and five were frail (26.3%). Six themes were identified: (1) using the resource, (2) drawing on lived experiences and dietary beliefs, (3) connecting nutrition and frailty, (4) tailoring nutrition and learning, (5) learning in different ways, and (6) empowering older adults. While these themes extend beyond resource usability alone, they collectively reflect the broader experiential and contextual factors that shape how participants engaged with and interpreted the online nutrition resource. Participants valued personalisation, multimodal learning formats, and the integration of lived experience. While some participants reported positive dietary changes after engaging with the resource, others described reflective learning without immediate behaviour change. Participants reported that digital literacy and personal learning goals and preferences influenced their experience of engaging with the online resource. CONCLUSIONS: Older adults with pre-frailty and frailty value online nutrition education but require resources that are personalised, credible, and accessible across diverse learning needs. Findings highlight opportunities to embed consumer voices in resource design and provide future directions for refining the current online nutrition resource. This research contributes to evidence on consumer-informed digital nutrition education to support autonomy, dietary self-management, and healthy ageing.