Fighting Poverty Through Simulation

​November 11, 2016

The first community-based poverty simulation event at MSU’s College of Nursing provided 83 students with a first-hand experience of the realities of living in poverty. This event was led and coordinated by Roxane Chan and Emily McIntire.

Moving away from traditional forms of teaching styles, such as PowerPoint-based lectures, this interactive event was designed to provide students with a more memorable educational opportunity.

“This simulation provided students with a mock “month in poverty.” We were able to simulate experiences that may be faced by families of lower income, in turn providing students with the opportunity to “feel” some of the frustrations, worries, and difficulties.  Providing our students with this opportunity may help sensitize them to the issue at hand, with hopes they may become leaders of combating the struggles faced by the impoverished, particularly how it can affect health promotion and healing,” says Emily McIntire, Simulation Lab Coordinator.

By placing students in defined roles and situations of the impoverished through simulation, it puts them in the mindset to understand these harsh realities. This allows for breakdown of these complex, socially constructed stereotypes of the working poor. After completing the simulation, a dialogue can be started between participants regarding methods of change communities can take to address this detrimental issue.

This is important because, “Nurses are the largest group of healthcare providers. Preparing them to have an educated opinion and the skill set needed to address health and social policy will empower them to change the world for the better,” says McIntire.

A few examples of the situations students could’ve been put into during the Poverty Simulation as referenced by The Community Action Poverty Simulation Plan are:

• A single parent with limited resources and no transportation must find a way to get to work and get their child to daycare.
• An elderly person must find a way to pay for both utilities and medication.
• A young adult must care for siblings while their parent is incarcerated.
• An elderly couple must raise their grandchildren and deal with their own health and employment issues.
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The poverty simulation goes beyond strictly igniting social reform. It also examines how lack of wealth ultimately leads to the decrease in one’s overall health.

​“Recent research regarding the epigenetic effect of the living environment has provided a direct link between the social determinants of health and the development of all forms of chronic disease and mortality," says Roxane Chan, Assistant Professor. "These research results describe such things as the dysregulation of the immune system due to actual and perceived loneliness, how the experience of adverse childhood experiences leads to the development of all forms of chronic disease and the link between toxic stress caused by living in high risk environments and infant mortality."

This innovative learning opportunity allows for more compassionate care while engaging with patients, as future Spartan Nurses can now draw upon what they learned through simulation of a life in poverty.

“In this way students understand the importance of family and community capacity as it impacts individual health and quality of life,” says McIntire.

​This simulation is part of the NUR 324 course and will occur each semester the class is offered.