Evaluating the Impact of an Interprofessional Poverty Virtual Simulation Game

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Social Determinants of Health

Background:

• Poverty simulation is crucial for healthcare students to understand patient socioeconomic factors.
• Traditional live simulations and newer virtual reality (VR) games offer different learning modalities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of a virtual simulation game versus a live interactive simulation in altering pharmacy and nursing students' perceptions of poverty.
• To evaluate which simulation modality yields a greater positive impact on student understanding.

Main Methods:

• An interprofessional sample of 395 pharmacy and nursing students participated.
• Students completed pre- and post-surveys assessing poverty perceptions (13 questions, max score 39).
• Data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA and descriptive statistics.

Main Results:

• Both virtual and live simulation groups showed statistically significant improvements in poverty perception scores.
• The live simulation group improved by 3.52 points, while the virtual group improved by 3.17 points.
• The impact on student perceptions was comparable between the two simulation types.

Conclusions:

• Both virtual and live poverty simulations positively impact healthcare students' understanding of poverty.
• The choice of simulation modality may depend on available resources and specific educational goals.
• Further research can explore optimal integration of these tools in health professions curricula.