W20 Optimizing patient safety through culturally competent simulation-based education with health professionals

Workshop Theme: Faculty development Who should attend – Introductory level Background Providing tools for health professionals and educators to enable them to assess and improve their cultural competence will arguably benefit patients. Diverse patient characteristics may be present through cultural, sensory, language, physical or psychological difference and may enhance communication error and threaten patient safety. Examples may include vision impairment or autism for example. Hypothetically, culturally competent health professionals are better equipped to respond to patients with diverse needs relating to, for example, their gender orientation, ethnic identity, disability and age. The focus of this workshop is inclusive clinical practice through health professional education, using simulation. The novel approach of integrating cultural competence into simulation-based education will be explored. Learning outcomes Define culture and diversity in a health care context. Examine how cultural incompetence among health professionals impacts patients. Explore how cultural competence among health professionals’ benefits patients. Discuss innovative approaches to integrating cultural competence and simulation–based education. Structure of workshop (description of session) Six detailed authentic case studies will examine the above objectives drawing from a range of pre-prepared ‘real life’ scenarios from clinical practice. The scenarios will relate to examples of patients receiving care in a variety of health care settings and from different health professional disciplines. The case studies will include examples of caring for patients with differences under the Equality Act Protected Characteristics framework focusing on the following attributes: age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex and sexual orientation. The learning objectives will be addressed through a full exploration and discussion of issues flagged from the case studies, drawing on participant’s and facilitator’s own experiences from practice where appropriate. There will be 6 groups with 5 participants per group. Educational methods used Participatory approach using case studies with facilitated discussion and feedback. The ideas generated from the workshop will be collated and with workshop participants’ written consent converted into a paper for publication Reference Equality and Human Rights Commission. Higher Education Provider’s Guidance 2010. Available at: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/private-and-public-sector-guidance/education-providers/higher education-providers-guidance (Accessed: 8 May 2018)