Research Article: Training Social Work Students to Recognize Later-life Depression - Is Standardized Patient Simulation Effective?

Research Article: Training Social Work Students to Recognize Later-life Depression - Is Standardized Patient Simulation Effective?
Lead author: Zvi D. Gellis
Submitted by: Janice Radway, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

It gives me great pleasure to share this scholarly article with our ASPE membership, as the Penn Med SP Program was involved in the study. This has been a successful program for about 5 years. It involves 2nd year Master of Social Work students having discussions with geriatric SPs regarding late-life depression and chronic disease. Please see the abstract and link below for more information on this study.

Abstract: Professional social workers are the largest provider of mental health services in the nation, yet they receive little coursework or clinical training in late-life depression unless they are in a gerontology specialization. Simulation training offers academic experiences that evoke conditions of the real world in a practical way. One hundred and four graduate social work students consented and completed the Standardized Patient Simulation course consisting of a human simulator interview, pre- and postdebriefing on late life depression, and self and faculty ratings of outcome measures. Results from pre–post testing of measures and the debriefing evaluation demonstrated that students gained in knowledge and achieved clinical skill competency.

Overall, the student group reflected that the standardized patient interview was challenging, yet an excellent method of removing them from their comfort zone to evaluate their clinical skills and practice behaviors. Students also discussed the impact of patient emotions of sadness during the interview. Students valued the academic orientation and preparation, well-defined objectives, and expectations of the training. In addition, they stated that having the opportunity to utilize an evidence-based “best practice” intervention was valued during the case scenario. Read the full article in Gerontology & Geriatrics Education here.

Publications Committee Mission: “To bring high quality reporting of current research, trends, techniques and information regarding SP methodology and other relevant industry articles to the attention of the membership through the web-based ASPE eNews blog.”

Share this post:

Comments on "Research Article: Training Social Work Students to Recognize Later-life Depression - Is Standardized Patient Simulation Effective?"

Comments 0-5 of 0

Please login to comment