Life of a Caregiver Simulation

1. Merle Mast, PhD, RN, Professor Erika Metzler Sawin, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor Kathleen Pantaleo, B.S. Gerontology, Director CCN Life of a Caregiver Simulation

2. Acknowledgements • The project was supported by the GTE Award Fund of Virginia • Special thanks to consultant Lynda Markut

3. Objectives • Understand the needs of frail older adults and their family caregivers • Examine the value of narrative pedagogy in nursing education • Relate Narrative Pedagogy to a group simulation to teach students about the needs of older adults and their caregivers

4. Need • The U.S. is aging • Most frail older adults are cared for at home • The burdens of CG lead to emotional and physical distress • Effective strategies are needed to teach students to understand the needs of caregiving families

5. Project Purpose • Create learning experience using narrative pedagogy (Diekelmann, 2001) to enhance understanding of: • common issues and needs of family CG • complex network of health and human services that caregiving families must navigate

6. Project Description – Designing the simulation • Determine Key Elements • Staffing for simulation • Family caregiving scenarios • Possible interventions • Determine overall goals & objectives for “families” • Long-term solutions for caregiving dilemma • Maintain normal household activities of daily living • Handle inevitable emergencies that arise • Create compelling stories for scenarios • Pull from CCN experience • Utilize consultant

7. Project Description – How it works • Students oriented and organized into “families”, assuming roles. • Day in the Life of a Caregiver divided into three-15 minute time periods during which tasks and resources are used to achieve goals and objectives. • Small group discussions facilitated by faculty, followed by large group debrief to identify themes.

8. Project Evaluation (Simulation) • Pilot data from 26 students enrolled in NSG 313 Issues and Applications of Family Caregiving • Mean student rating of simulation: 7.68 (SD 1.44) • Narrative feedback obtained after simulation via journals • Descriptive and interpretive phenomenological analysis

9. Themes • Value of the Simulation Method • “put ourselves in the shoes of” • …”became more aware of” • Enhanced knowledge and awareness of services • “Real life” knowledge and understanding of wide array of services available for families • “interdisciplinary approaches” to service provision • Understanding of the stress and burdens experiences by caregiving families • “A caregiver not only devotes their time to an aging family member, but also has a life of their own to manage.”

10. Discussion and Conclusions • Simulation allowed students to: • experience the stress and burdens of caregiving first-hand • Gain knowledge of the wide array of caregiving services • Develop their professional roles • Future plans for simulation • Further development and revision • Offer more broadly

11. References • Diekelmann, N. (2001). Narrative pedagogy: Heideggerian hermeneutical analyses of lived experiences of students, teachers, and clinicians. ANS.Advances in Nursing Science, 23(3), 53-71. • Others available on request