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Poverty Simulation Experience Fall 2018
What: A poverty simulation is an interprofessional, group-based experience where students from different programs and backgrounds are assigned a “family” role, such as a mother, father or child. Families are provided information as to their specific situation, 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 will be 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 will gather in larger groups to discuss the experience, share their struggles and triumphs and discuss how the experience may or may not have changed perceptions 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.
A research study is being performed on the perceptions related to the event before and after it takes place. Your participation in this research is voluntary and no negative consequences will result if you choose not to participate. Your responses will be kept anonymous and will only be identified by college and in aggregate.
Ground Rules:
Ë Come to the experience open-minded and willing to engage.
Ë Follow the instructions provided and work as a team within your family.
Ë Be aware that the experience can be emotionally stimulating or draining for some students.
Ë If you have experienced or currently experience poverty, please be aware that this is not meant to be entirely realistic, only a way to simulate struggles within a short, given time-period.
Ë Remain open to sharing the experience with your group afterwards. The debrief period is one of the most valuable parts of the experience.
Ë Make note of how living in poverty leads to stress and how it may affect the way you are treated by others.
When/Where: Friday, October 26 at the Ferris State University Center in Ballrooms 202A/B. Check in at the table outside of the
room when you arrive for your family assignment and pre-event survey.
How: Your schedules have been made to accommodate this event. You may walk over or, if driving is necessary, limited parking is available on campus in the University Center lot.
Why: By participating, you are preparing yourself for your future clinical experience in working with patients from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The experience helps to build empathy and serves to create awareness and compassion. It is also an interprofessional event. This means that you are working in groups with other students you do not know in order to engage with students from other programs, particularly those in health care. In the end, it is meant to support your personal and professional development as a healthcare provider.
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ASCO IPECP Toolkit
June 2020