Improving attitudes toward poverty among DNP students: Implementing a Community Action Poverty Simulation©

Abstract

Poverty has detrimental effects on health outcomes. Doctorally prepared nurse practitioners are in a position to promote health for patients and communities experiencing poverty. To do so, they must be aware of their own attitudes and to have empathy toward the condition of poverty. Specialized poverty simulations have been successfully used to improve attitudes toward poverty among prelicensure nursing students, but there is a paucity of evidence exploring the effects of poverty simulations among Students in a Doctor of Nurse Practice (DNP) program. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a poverty simulation for students enrolled in a DNP program on their attitudes toward poverty. A quasi-experimental, pre-test and post-test survey design was used in this curriculum improvement project. A total of 29 DNP students participated in a 1-time, 4-hour Community Action Poverty Simulation© (CAPS). The simulations presented various challenges faced during 1 month of living in poverty. The Attitudes toward Poverty Scale-Short Form (ATPS-SF) was used to measure attitudes toward poverty both before and after the CAPS© experience. Descriptive statistics and paired t-tests were used to describe the participant group and measure the impact of the simulation on attitudes toward poverty. Attitudes toward poverty improved overall on all dimensions of the ATPS-SF after the CAPS© experience as compared to the pre-test, with particular improvement regarding stigmas related to poverty. Statistically significant improvements were detected on four items, and the overall favorable shift in attitudes presents clinically significant results. This poverty simulation experience should be considered for adoption into DNP curricula.

From passerby to ally: Testing an intervention to challenge attributions for poverty and generate support for poverty‐reducing policies and allyship

“…The central feature of the intervention is an immersive group experience where up to 80 participants take on roles of people living in poverty and try to “make ends meet” for the duration of a simulated month. The effectiveness of CAPS has been investigated by researchers in a range of fields, and has been shown to improve attitudes, increase awareness, and foster empathy for people living in poverty among samples of students (Engler et al., 2020; Steck et al., 2011; M. Todd et al., 2011), nurses (Ehmke & Sanner‐Stiehr, 2021; Yang et al., 2014), teachers (Goelman Rice et al., 2017), dentists (Lampiris et al., 2017), pharmacists (Clarke et al., 2016), and social service workers (Engler et al., 2020).…”

Comparison of Students’ Attitudes Towards Poverty Following an Interdisciplinary Poverty Simulation

“…The Poverty Simulation has been proposed as a possible method to influence attitudes and several studies have been conducted using a pretest and posttest design to explore the impact. Many studies have been completed with students in the helping professions: nursing (Ehmke & Sanner-Stiehr, 2020;Garrett-Wright et al, 2021;Noone et al, 2012;Patterson & Hulton, 2012;Turk & Colbert, 2018;Yang et al, 2014), education (Caniglia & Mupinga, 2021), occupational therapy (Bakshi & Jarrad, 2021), dentistry (Lampiris et al, 2017), and medicine (Marrast et al, 2022). Studies have also been conducted with students from more than one discipline, either undergraduates (Cox et al, 2012;Kelty et al, 2020;Kuehn et al, 2020;Vandsburger et al, 2010), graduate students (Ehmke & Sanner-Stiehr, 2020), or mixed undergraduate and graduate students (Hitchcock et al, 2021;Marrast et al, 2022;Strasser et al, 2013).…”

“…Many studies have been completed with students in the helping professions: nursing (Ehmke & Sanner-Stiehr, 2020;Garrett-Wright et al, 2021;Noone et al, 2012;Patterson & Hulton, 2012;Turk & Colbert, 2018;Yang et al, 2014), education (Caniglia & Mupinga, 2021), occupational therapy (Bakshi & Jarrad, 2021), dentistry (Lampiris et al, 2017), and medicine (Marrast et al, 2022). Studies have also been conducted with students from more than one discipline, either undergraduates (Cox et al, 2012;Kelty et al, 2020;Kuehn et al, 2020;Vandsburger et al, 2010), graduate students (Ehmke & Sanner-Stiehr, 2020), or mixed undergraduate and graduate students (Hitchcock et al, 2021;Marrast et al, 2022;Strasser et al, 2013). Additional research on the effects of the Poverty Simulation has been completed with educational professionals (Engler et al, 2019;Goelman-Rice et al, 2017), healthcare workers (Murray et al, 2022), and business and community members (Nickols & Nielsen, 2011;Pankow, 2006).…”

A model of care for patients with low income

“…The universal response of staff to training indicates that more content on and experience with care of patients with low income are needed as part of provider education. As part of graduate-level training, educational institutions are beginning to investigate the best possible approaches to learning—including use of poverty simulations and service-learning—to improve competence in caring for this population 22,23…”

“…As part of graduate-level training, educational institutions are beginning to investigate the best possible approaches to learning-including use of poverty simulations and service-learning-to improve competence in caring for this population. 22,23…”