To prepare medical students to care for older patients and to reduce potential barriers regarding a career in GP, the Department of General Practice of the Leipzig University established a course called Aging Simulation Game (‘Instant Aging’) in 2005. However, older patients make up a significant proportion of patients in family practice. Studies investigating students’ attitudes toward geriatrics found that characteristics associated with this field (complex, chronically ill patients, long-term care, non-curable diseases) are not perceived as attractive. Īs we know, a ‘reluctance to treat too many old patients, chronic diseases and dying patients’ is among the reasons why medical students who seriously considered general practice (GP) careers in the first place finally decided against this option. This is especially true for general practitioners (GPs), who are the main healthcare providers for community-dwelling older people and will be confronted with a growing number of patients with multiple health problems. In Germany, as in many other countries worldwide, the geriatric population is constantly growing and will constitute an important part of future physicians’ workload. Although reviews have found mixed results of teaching interventions in geriatric medicine in general and educational role playing games in particular, single studies report significant increases in positive attitudes toward (caring for) older patients and awareness of age-related difficulties. Aging simulations have been conducted with medical, nursing, and pharmacy students in different countries. Such simulations could be alternatively implemented in health professionals’ education where resources are limited.Īging simulations in the health sciences have been used for decades with the aim of sensitizing students to older patients’ functional limitations, positively influencing their attitudes toward caring for older patients, and enhancing empathy. Simple online aging simulations may be suitable to provide students with relevant insights and enhance their understanding of older patients.
IN YOUR SHOES GAME PROFESSIONAL
Qualitative data revealed manifold insights on the part of the students, most frequently referring to aspects of professional doctor-patient interaction, knowledge about conditions and diseases, role reversal, and enhanced empathy.
IN YOUR SHOES GAME PDF
PDF components containing audio and video links directly imitating conditions (visual or hearing impairment) were rated highest. While only 14.8% agreed that the online course could generally replace the real-world simulation, 71.1% stated that it enabled them to change their perspective and 91.7% reported enhanced understanding of older patients.
The majority (82.8%) perceived the course as practice-oriented, 88.3% enjoyed processing, 60.3% reported having gained new professional knowledge, and 75.4% had new personal insights. Nearly all respondents reported that the course was well structured, easily understandable, and that processing was intuitive. Descriptive statistical and qualitative content analyses were performed.
The questionnaire addressed overall course evaluations, assessments of the individual PDF components (working enjoyment, personal insights, professional learning gain, enhanced understanding, increased interest in working with older patients), and students’ main insights from the course (free text). In this cross-sectional study, an anonymous post hoc online survey was conducted among 277 5th-year medical students eligible for the course at the Leipzig University in May 2020. We explored how well our self-directed simple online simulation succeeded in providing students with relevant insights and experiences, raising awareness about age-related difficulties, and enhancing understanding of older patients.
IN YOUR SHOES GAME PORTABLE
This consisted of short introductory screencasts, four downloadable Portable Document Format (PDF) files containing issue-specific audio and video links, quizzes, case studies, and prompts for reflection. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions imposed on education, we replaced a classroom-based aging simulation course with a simple online equivalent. Aging simulation games are established educational interventions to make older patients’ perspectives noticeable, raise awareness about their needs, and positively influence attitudes toward older adults.
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