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

To assess the effects of participation in the Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) on empathy and attitudes about poverty in undergraduate nursing, public health, and healthcare administration students and personnel attending a mid-sized southern regional university. Design: A quasi-experimental pretest - posttest evaluation of changes in empathy and attitudes about poverty after an experiential learning intervention. Participants (N = 447) completed pre- and post- validated surveys, including the Kiersma-Chen Empathy Scale and the Attitudes Toward Poverty Short Form, and data were subjected to descriptive and paired analyses (paired t tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests) to identify significant within-subject changes. Thematic analysis was performed on open-ended responses. Post simulation empathy scores increased significantly (p < .001). Changes in overall attitudes about poverty reached statistical significance in the first simulation. Qualitative themes included enhanced empathy, increased awareness of barriers, and critical reflection about personal biases. Simulation-based experiential learning activities can effectively and efficiently increase empathy and critically reflect on poverty in future health care providers. The study's findings highlight the value of incorporating structured and facilitated CAPS into nursing and health sciences curricula. Simulation-based learning focused on empathy and social determinants of health can prepare community health nurses and other health professionals to interact with economically marginalized patients with increased sensitivity to structural limitations, decreased focus on deficiencies, and enhanced respectful, patient-centered dialogue.