Using simulated experiences to teach health care providers to address health care of elderly chronically ill African American women

Changing demographics (aging and diversity) can be described as major contributing factors to the nation's health care crisis. Throughout the twenty-first century, the number of elderly and minorities are expected to steadily increase and by mid-century, they will constitute a new U.S. majority. Culturally competent providers increase the likelihood that these patients will receive appropriate health care and advice at a stage when complications can be prevented. Cultural competency is more than just recognizing that there are cultural differences, but includes the capacity to incorporate these differences into models of health professions education and treatment in a manner that is beneficial to the patient, and the health professional. According to Campinha-Bacote's model, culturally competent providers possess cultural awareness, knowledge, skills, and desire achieved through cultural encounters. This presentation will describe the development, implementation and evaluation of the model with the use of standardized patient encounters and Monarch General Hospital (a computer-generated learning platform). This simulated experience has been shown to increase the knowledge, skills and awareness of the provider in preparation for actual client interaction. The program provides the health care provider with the needed cultural encounters through these simulated experiences to address healthcare issues affecting elderly African American women. Cases are presented by individuals from the community trained to present clinical scenarios. The scenarios are attached as video clips into Monarch General Hospital where they are activated based on health care provider interaction. This presentation will describe an encounter with an elderly African American women with diabetes and hypertension.