Poverty Simulations With Health Professional Students: Evidence of Impact

Poverty is one of the most significant determinants of health inequity in the United States, yet students of the health professions are more likely to come from higher rather than from lower income families, separating them economically from many of the individuals they will serve. Poverty simulations can expose health professional students to experiences of those living in poverty and provide a more holistic, structural perspective of poverty that informs their later practice. We sought to understand the current state of poverty simulations being utilized throughout the United States. Through a review of abstracts via Ovid and Google Scholar, we identified nine articles that focus directly on describing poverty simulations in university-based programs with health or social work university students and that incorporate some form of pre- and postevaluation methods. After a careful review of these articles, we describe the distinct differences in components and contexts between the simulations, including Bridging the Gaps–Pittsburgh’s Experiential Poverty Exercise, and how effects on students is determined across the various simulations. Additionally, we review how unique aspects of the Bridging the Gaps–Pittsburgh’s Experiential Poverty Exercise can serve as a model for providing multidisciplinary graduate students the opportunity to increase their knowledge and shift attitudes about people experiencing poverty before working with them as health professionals. In presenting the current status of these simulations, we seek to develop recommendations regarding the components and context of poverty simulations as well as approaches to assessing effects.