A scoping review of "nursing-technology collaboration" in home-based rehabilitation for the elderly under the long-term care insurance system.

Background: Under the long-term care insurance system, home-based rehabilitation is a key service model for addressing population aging, but it faces the dual challenges of a shortage of care workers and increasingly complex service needs. The introduction of emerging tools, such as digital health technologies and social assistive robots, has opened up new possibilities for home-based rehabilitation. However, whether technology can truly improve care outcomes depends on the collaborative working model between nurses and technology-known as "nurse-technology collaboration." There is currently a lack of a systematic review of collaborative models in this field. Objective: To systematically analyze the phased positioning, nursing value, and institutional barriers to nursing-technology collaboration in home-based rehabilitation for the elderly under the long-term care insurance system, using a three-stage framework (tool substitution-capacity enhancement-ecological integration) based on the digital transformation maturity model and the theory of innovation diffusion, thereby providing a theoretical basis for technological integration and institutional innovation. Methods: Following the Joanna Briggs Institute's guidelines for systematic review methodology, we searched the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, CINAHL, and Embase databases, with a search cutoff date of April 2026. We included studies that addressed the collaborative application of nursing staff and technology in home-based rehabilitation for the elderly, exploring collaborative models or mechanisms. We used descriptive analysis to synthesize the extracted data. Results: A total of 15 studies from 10 countries were included. In terms of phasing, five papers are in the tool replacement phase, ten are in the capability enhancement phase, and the ecosystem integration phase requires further exploration. In terms of application scenarios, nursing-technology collaboration has demonstrated measurable effectiveness across three core areas: physiological monitoring, risk warning, and rehabilitation training. Among these, evidence for physiological monitoring and risk warning is relatively concentrated, while research on motion quality supervision in rehabilitation training still has considerable room for improvement. In addition, other scenarios, such as social companionship and cognitive training, have positive implications for the mental health and social connections of older adults. In terms of key breakthroughs, data sharing and system interoperability, evaluation criteria and payment methods, digital literacy and talent development, and the delineation of responsibilities and institutional incentives are the four key issues that require focused attention. Conclusion: Currently, the collaboration between nursing and technology is primarily focused on tool replacement and capability enhancement, and has not yet achieved ecological integration. In the future, we should conduct practical randomized controlled trials based on performance-based payment models, develop technologies for monitoring the quality of nursing procedures, promote the standardization of data interfaces and training in digital literacy for nursing staff, and clarify accountability for technology use, thereby advancing the collaboration between nursing and technology toward a phase of ecological integration. Systematic Review Registration: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/9RGWJ.