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Interprofessional Poverty Simulation Ferris State University
Type of Project: Extracurricular / Orientation / Social
Description of the Project: A Poverty Simulation is a group-based experience designed by the Missouri Association for Community Action in which students are assigned a “family” role, such as a mother, father or child. Families are provided information as to their specific situa- tion, including employment and income. Within the experience, there are multiple sessions. Each session simulates a day in the life of the family struggling to survive in poverty.
Around the room, tables are set up representing businesses, organizations and agencies. Using the provided family income, each family must fulfill the responsibilities of daily life by visiting the necessary tables around the room. Transportation requires a transportation pass. Daily needs such as employment, groceries, paying bills, school, daycare, healthcare, and more are available around the room. Throughout the experience, life detours may happen, needing a reassessment of priorities just like in the real world.
After the sessions, students gather in larger groups to discuss the experience, share their struggles and triumphs, and discuss how the experience may or may not have changed per- ceptions on life in poverty. The goal of the experience is to create awareness and empathy for those living in poverty as our future patients or clients in our chosen fields.
Why the Project was Selected: The Poverty Simulation was chosen because of the impact of this issue societally but also because of the importance of health professional students and providers being aware of, and sympathetic to, the issues surrounding poverty that their patients / clients face. The group-based design of the Simulation provides a natural oppor- tunity for interprofessional education, with students from different programs comprising the simulated “families.”
Learning Objectives: Student averages on the completed Poverty Simulation surveys should improve pre- to post-event in each of the following categories:
Ë I have an appreciation for the struggles associated with living in poverty.
Ë I have experience in using creativity and problem-solving skills together with other
healthcare professionals.
Ë I have communicated with students in other health professions.
Ë I understand why healthcare is sometimes neglected in situations of poverty.
Ë I am comfortable with interprofessional simulation as a learning experience.
Ë I feel empathy for patients living in poverty and the working poor.
Ë I will be a better optometrist/pharmacist/nurse/social worker if I understand living in poverty.
June 2020 ASCO IPECP Toolkit
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