Between the Patient and Politics – A Ready-to-Use Simulation for Human Service Practitioners

Abstract

Background. Caregivers in human services fields operate within a space between their clients and the larger social forces that shape clients’ lives. Empathetic practitioners should learn to identify both personal circumstances and larger systemic forces (e.g., economic inequality) beyond their control that influence patients’ circumstances. Aim. This article presents a novel two-phase simulation that can be beneficial for increasing empathy and policy knowledge among pre-practitioners in a variety of human service fields. Method. We use a mixed-method design to evaluate the impact of a pilot study (n=9) of the simulation. First, pre-, mid-, and post-event surveys are used in conjunction with t-tests to determine changes in overall empathy and knowledge. Second, we use feedback from the first-phase debriefing and end-of-program focus groups to identify emergent themes. Learners role play a state legislator or interest group and must develop legislation to address shortages in physicians and nurses. Result. We found evidence of increased knowledge of the policymaking process and understanding of how politics relates to individual healthcare access challenges. Evidence of gains in empathy were not apparent from the quantitative measures, but were expressed in participant debriefing. Conclusion. The framework presented is flexible enough to adapt and be implemented for a variety of policy problems across a diverse array of human service fields. It shows promise in raising knowledge and potentially empathy.

Students as policymakers and policy advocates: Role-playing evidence-based health policies

“…The activity was successful in providing students with different perspectives surrounding policy negotiation, as they played different roles as part of an assigned case (Craig & Bloomfield, 2006). In another example, with the aim of building pre-practitioners’ knowledge about the policymaking process, Mallinson and O’Hanlon (2017) provided evidence on the positive impact of simulation in terms of enhanced knowledge about the policy process and realization of its complexity, and enhanced understanding of different stakeholders’ perspectives (Mallinson & O’Hanlon, 2017).…”

Gaming, Simulation/Gaming, and Simulation & Gaming

“…Finally, Tamarah Smith’s (2017) Gamified modules for an introductory statistics course and their impact on attitudes and learning addresses gamified learning in its particular field. The issue’s ready-to-use game, Daniel J. Mallinson’s and Erin O’Hanlon’s Between the patient and politics – A ready-to-use simulation for human service practitioners (Mallinson & O’Hanlon, 2017), uses a simulation to illustrate pollical influence on health care access, in order to enhance practitioner empathy. These works, together, reflect the various areas in which simulation and gaming research is applied, including the ways in which educational and other instrumental uses of games and simulations are important.…”