Building Interprofessional Competence in Health Care Providers through a Poverty Simulation

Introduction:  The World Health Organization acknowledged interprofessional collaboration as necessary to strengthen health care.  Loyola University Chicago School of Nursing received a federal grant (HRSA #UD7HP26040) to improve health care through interprofessional collaboration. Patient-centered values and ethics are key. Healthy People 2020 identified elimination of health disparities as a goal. Economic disadvantage is a type of health disparity requiring interprofessional collaboration. To develop the Interprofessional Education Collaborative competencies, a patient-centered poverty simulation was developed to prepare health care providers to reduce health disparities through team work related to poverty.

Approach:  Four poverty simulation events were conducted between February 2014 and February 2015.  Each person was assigned to a role as a family member or community service provider.   Participants worked as teams to manage family resources, demands and events over a mock month (20 minutes/week).  The simulation included lunch that met the USDA Thrifty Food Plan ($1.43/person).  A discussion followed related to food security.

 Results:   Students (230) and faculty (64) have participated to date representing medical, nursing, dietetics, health systems management, public health and social work disciplines.  Participants completed a self-assessment of interprofessional competencies before and after the simulation. All participants engaged in debriefing Common themes were “survival”, “coping”, and “stress”.  Students gained appreciate for barriers to health care use and engagement.  Increased self-efficacy for inter-professional competence, based on data analysis, will be presented.

Discussion:  Interprofessional competence and functioning as team members can be developed using a poverty simulation for students and faculty in health professions education programs.