Experiencing Poverty Together: Fostering Empathy Through an Experiential Community Action Poverty Simulation

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Social Determinants of Health
• Experiential Learning

Background:

• Healthcare education increasingly emphasizes empathy and understanding of social determinants of health.
• Poverty simulation offers a unique experiential learning approach to address these crucial areas.
• Previous research indicates a need for effective interventions to shape attitudes toward poverty among future healthcare professionals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of the Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) on empathy and attitudes toward poverty.
• To assess changes in undergraduate nursing, public health, and healthcare administration students and personnel.
• To determine the effectiveness of simulation-based experiential learning in healthcare education.

Main Methods:

• A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was employed with 447 participants.
• Validated surveys, including the Kiersma-Chen Empathy Scale and Attitudes Toward Poverty Short Form, were administered.
• Paired t tests, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and thematic analysis of open-ended responses were utilized.

Main Results:

• Post-simulation empathy scores showed a statistically significant increase (p < .001).
• Attitudes toward poverty demonstrated significant positive changes following the first simulation.
• Qualitative analysis revealed enhanced empathy, greater awareness of barriers, and critical reflection on biases.

Conclusions:

• Simulation-based experiential learning, specifically CAPS, effectively increases empathy and critical reflection on poverty.
• Incorporating CAPS into health sciences curricula is valuable for preparing future healthcare providers.
• This learning approach fosters sensitivity toward economically marginalized patients and promotes patient-centered dialogue.