HKU_Newsletter_Issue 39_0828

Experiential Learning is a distinctive feature of the University’s new curriculum and it takes learning outside the traditional boundary of the classroom (Gallant Ho Experiential Learning Centre, The University of HongKong).Experiential learning is learningbydoing. Itequipsstudents with the competencies they need for real-world accomplishment. In the Community and Global Health Nursing course, one of the student learning outcomes is to assess the health risks and needs of individuals and families in community settings. To enhance experiential learning in community health, undergraduate nursing students are given the learning opportunity of assessing a simulated poverty home: a home that simulates the real world and reflects the issues of poverty and its relationship to ineffective health maintenance. Low fidelity simulation experiences, in addition to traditional teaching strategies, have been shown to be effective in giving students the opportunity to gain a new level of empathy for families who struggle with few resources (Leh, 2016). To prepare this simulation experience, the School created a simulated poverty home that community nurses would encounter in their daily practice. It is crucial for students to learn from community nurses on how to conduct comprehensive health and home assessments, before planning and implementing nursing care for the clients during home visits. Health is multi-dimensional. The determinants of health include the social and economic environment, the physical environment, and the person’s individual characteristics and behaviours (WHO). In Hong Kong, almost one million people were found to live in poverty after the policy intervention of recurrent cash (The Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report, 2015). To a certain extent, community nursing services has been extended to those clients who are of low income families with limited resources. To facilitate the experiential learning of students, a simulated poverty home has been designed and constructed on a small scale in the nursing laboratory which replicates a poverty home setting. Scenario-based learning incorporating the simulated poverty home setting is one of the assessments students need to undertake. This is mainly to allow students to recognize and evaluate the relationship between poverty and ineffective health maintenance through comprehensive assessment. To enrich realism, much work has been done in the interior decoration of the home. It includes the installation of fixture and furniture from “second hand” markets. The aim is to simulate the home of typical community- dwelling clients. Therefore, the home environment is deliberately designed to reflect the poverty level, home safety, personal hygiene, and personal lifestyle of the clients in the scenarios. Through conducting comprehensive assessment, students are expected to identify and prioritize the health care needs of the clients. In the care plan, students are required to propose tailor-made interventions for the clients, which integrate both lifestyle and home modification, as well as mobilise community resources. To implement this innovation, the purpose of creating the simulated poverty home incorporated in the scenarios is stated clearly to students. To facilitate home assessment, a 360° virtual tour of the home is uploaded to the student learning platform – the Moodle and a visit to the home is also scheduled for each student. On evaluating this teaching innovation, the assessment results are reviewed and the feedback from students is collected. Students are able to conduct the home assessment in a very comprehensive manner and propose effective interventions for the clients in the scenarios. The feedback from students is also encouraging. They find this simulated poverty home very realistic and can effectively engage them in terms of experiential learning. They treasure the learning experience that increases their understanding of the challenges the clients face. It also allows them to examine the relationship between poverty and health. Besides, the comment from clinical partners on the design of this simulated poverty home is solicited. They comment on the deployment of this teaching strategy that can effectively prepare students for community nursing practice. In the upcoming strategic teaching plan, three more simulated homes with different themes will be built. To facilitate in depth learning, students can participate in writing up scenarios, role play the life of clients and the community nurse in taking care of clients in different thematic simulated home settings. With this simulated learning environment, students are well prepared for the roles of community nurses in community settings. With acknowledgment to Simulation Team of School of Nursing. References: Gallant Ho Learning Centre, The University of Hong Kong. Retrieved on 8 June 2017 at http://ghelc.hku.hk/ Leh, S.K. (2016) Enhancing understanding of poverty through simulation. Journal of Nursing and Care 5:7 (Suppl) P.20 The Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2015, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Retrieved on 6 June 2017 at http:// www.povertyrelief.gov.hk/pdf/poverty_report_2015_e.pdf World Health Organization. Health Impact Assessment (HIA): The determinants of health. Retrieved on 9 June 2017 at http://www.who.int/ hia/evidence/doh/en/ A Simulated Poverty Home: A Teaching Innovation for Learning Community Health for Undergraduate Nursing Students Ms. Maggie Chan Assistant Lecturer, Year 5 Clinical Coordinator Ms. Michelle Pang Lecturer, Clinical Coordinator of BNurs (FT) Programmer Dr. Janet Wong Assistant Professor, Director of BNurs (FT) Programme Teaching and Learning Dr. Polly Chan Lecturer 3 Issue 39 Jul 2017