Expanding Knowledge and Changing Attitudes About Poverty: An Interactive, Interprofessional Approach.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Public Health
• Sociology

Background:

• Poverty significantly impacts health outcomes.
• Healthcare professionals often lack adequate education on poverty's realities.
• This gap may lead to suboptimal patient care for low-income populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of a poverty simulation workshop for interprofessional health students.
• To enhance students' comprehension of the challenges faced by individuals living in poverty.
• To foster empathy and improve attitudes towards low-income patients.

Main Methods:

• A 3-hour interactive, experiential poverty simulation workshop was conducted.
• Participants included interprofessional pre-professional health students.
• Evaluation involved self-assessments, reflection prompts, and pre-/post-questionnaires.

Main Results:

• Participants reported more favorable attitudes toward low-income patients.
• The simulation fostered increased awareness and empathy.
• Understanding of social determinants of health and multifactorial patient challenges improved.

Conclusions:

• Experiential poverty simulations can enhance health students' perspectives.
• Interprofessional learning about patient experiences is valuable.
• Future training should focus on interprofessional skill-building and action, potentially using virtual formats.