Assessing and improving students' collaborative skills using a mental health simulation: A pilot study

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Interprofessional Collaboration
• Mental Health Care

Background:

• Severe mental illnesses necessitate coordinated, multidisciplinary care approaches.
• Health professional education often occurs in silos, limiting collaborative skill development.
• Interprofessional education is crucial for fostering teamwork and mutual understanding among future healthcare providers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a mental health simulation (SIM) on health professional students' perceptions of interprofessional collaboration.
• To assess changes in attitudes and values regarding collaborative care after participating in a simulation.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study involving nursing, social work, occupational therapy, and public health students.
• Students participated in a mental health simulation with standardized patients.
• The Interprofessional Socialization and Valuing Scale-21 (ISVS-21) was administered as a pretest to 113 students and a posttest to 9 participants.

Main Results:

• The mental health simulation showed potential for improving students' attitudes toward collaborative care.
• Preliminary findings suggest a positive influence of simulation-based interprofessional learning.

Conclusions:

• Interprofessional simulations may be an effective strategy to enhance collaborative care attitudes among health professional students.
• Simulations should accurately reflect real-world treatment conditions for maximum impact.