Adapting to health change: aging sensitivity simulation for first-year medical students

For more than 25 years, the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center has conducted aging sensitivity training exercises with medical students. The two-hour training, facilitated by older adult volunteers, includes 5 stations (hearing loss, nephropathy and dexterity, vision loss and medication management, language impairment, mobility and balance and incontinence) and is designed to improve student understanding of common age-related changes and health changes related to chronic illness prior to beginning clinical rotations. Data were collected from all 249 medical students who completed Adapting to Health Change over a 2-year period (2016 and 2017). Students completed a 4-item evaluation of the program immediately following the training. Response options were on a five-point rating scale (1=strongly disagree and 5=strongly agree). Ninety-five percent of students (N=238) agreed or strongly agreed that the simulation training helped them better understand how it feels to age with health changes; 97% (N=241) agreed the facilitators provided useful insights; 92% (N=229) felt the experience will help them be a better physician for older patients; and 94% (N=233) reported the simulation improved their knowledge of age-related changes. Aging sensitivity training using simulated cases of common age-related health conditions was well-received by medical students and changed perceptions of aging of most participants. Future evaluations of this program will also examine age-related bias and knowledge of age-related health changes and will focus on second year medical students prior to entering clinical clerkships.