Virtual simulation to teach mental health concepts
Advancing education and training in mental healthcare
With the increasing prevalence of mental health conditions globally, there is a pressing need for well-trained professionals who are equipped with knowledge, skills, and clinical judgment to provide quality mental healthcare.
Mental health challenges are experienced by individuals across their lifespan and are encountered by healthcare professionals in settings beyond traditional mental health facilities. All healthcare professionals and students, independent of practice environment, must therefore be equipped to provide quality, person-centred mental healthcare. This highlights the importance of broadening education of pre-registration healthcare students to explore a greater scope of mental health scenarios.
Research indicates that active learning strategies, such as problem-based learning, simulation, and integrating voices of people with lived experience, greatly enhance student preparedness for mental health practice across healthcare disciplines. Simulation, including virtual simulations, is a valuable strategy to prepare students for clinical practice and improve their knowledge, skills, confidence, and decision-making in mental healthcare. Virtual simulation offers immersive and safe learning experiences. Virtual simulations have other advantages: they are cost-effective, easy to share, and enable repeated practice.
Given the rapid expansion of virtual simulation use, technological advancements, and newer publications, an updated review is necessary. Currently, a scoping review is underway to assess the literature on using virtual simulation to teach health professional students about mental health. This review aims to answer specific questions and identify gaps in the existing knowledge.
In particular, the scoping review seeks to explore the focus of learning objectives within virtual mental health simulations. It aims to uncover how virtual simulation has been utilised to teach mental health concepts to interprofessional groups of students. By examining the literature, the review will identify the gaps and limitations in using virtual simulation for teaching mental health concepts. Insights from the review aim to contribute to advancing education and training in mental healthcare.
As the world continues to prioritise mental health, bridging the gap between the demand for well-trained professionals and the available resources becomes increasingly crucial. Through the integration of virtual simulation, the global community can take a significant step forward in equipping healthcare professionals and students to meet this growing demand.
The scoping review protocol, Virtual clinical simulation to teach mental health concepts, is available in the July 2023 issue of JBI Evidence Synthesis.
Virtual clinical simulation to teach mental health concepts: a scoping review protocol
Timmermans, Katherine E.; Cavanagh, Frances C.; Chevalier, Natalie; Luctkar-Flude, Marian; Killam, Laura A.
JBI Evidence Synthesis 21(7):p 1485-1492, July 2023. | DOI: 10.11124/JBIES-22-00293