Poverty simulator offers eye-opening look into patient hardships
Some begged. Some borrowed. Some chose not to pay a bill. Others were evicted.
These decisions, made by UTHealth Houston students and other participants at the Community Action Poverty Simulator, highlight the circumstances many patients face while deciding how to pay for health care and medication.
Under the direction of Theresa Tran, MD, MBA, associate professor of emergency medicine at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, the simulator invites future health care providers, as well as working professionals, to step into the shoes of people facing financial hardships, who struggle with employment, transportation, childcare, and other challenges impacting their ability to receive adequate health care.
“We hope participants walk away with increased empathy, empowerment, and a better understanding of systems thinking as a tool to help with their patient’s treatment plan,” said Tran.
Teaching empathy
The simulator — a live-action and interactive experience where participants role-play as individuals living in low-income families — provides participants with the opportunity to enrich their education by navigating how to pay for health care while balancing their family’s bills and responsibilities.
For four 15-minute “weeks,” each simulator family is tasked with maintaining their life’s necessities in whatever way they think is best.
An enlightening experience
During a recent simulation, some students trying to pawn a microwave at a local pawn shop were quickly met with disappointment when learning how little they could get for the appliance. Others, in the role of children, were shocked to learn their parents couldn’t pay for a school field trip because a prescription needed to be paid for instead.
During the same simulation, participants were surprised to find they couldn’t get a part-time job at the local grocery store to help pay bills, while others were robbed at work. Due to the dire circumstances, some participants even considered committing crimes themselves.
“I got a lot out of it,” said Henley Johnson, student at Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston. “It was very eye-opening toward my future interactions with patients that are in poverty situations and being able to understand everything that goes into their health care.”
After the simulation, students reconvened to debrief about the experience. Many voiced sighs of relief while noting how hectic it was to just participate in the event.
“I have a greater understanding of the people that I encounter,” said Daphne Jones, a Houston Health Department employee.
“I feel so stressed by this,” said another participant who voiced disbelief in some of the hardships people have to face.
“Poverty is reality,” Tran said. “We hope the simulator empowers participants to make a difference for their patients both inside the health care system and within their community."