Nouvelles des membres du Réseau Participatory Serious Games Development to Foster Cultural Safety in Medical Education in Colombia

Une affiche présentée par Juan Pimentel, membre étudiant du RRSPQ, à la conférence 2018 du Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH), avec le support financier du RRSPQ. Monsieur Pimentel est l'un des récipiendaires du dernier concours de soutien du RRSPQ à la participation à des conférences internationales. Félicitations!

Authors: J. Pimentel, N. Andersson; Department of Family Medicine, McGill University.

 

Abstract

ISSUE: Lack of cultural safety in health care has been linked to health disparities, as differences in cultural background between physicians and patients hinder access to, acceptability, and effectiveness of health services in the multicultural context. These differences can lead to confrontation with, discrimination against, and even harm to patients.

BACKGROUND: Multicultural Colombia is a useful setting for medical education research, with potential lessons for Canada and the global community. The Colombian government supports health services based on the Western biomedical model yet around 40% of the population seek care in traditional medicine. The resulting gap between community needs and physicians’ skills could be better bridged if medical training included cultural safety. At present Colombian medical schools provide no cultural safety training.

AIM: To foster cultural safety in research and clinical practice through game-based education of medical students and family medicine residents in Colombia.

METHODS: Three phases address the specific research objectives. 1) a scoping review of published literature will summarise the current situation in cultural safety training with a focus on game learning. 2) a co-design exercise including key informant interviews, focus groups, and expert panels with the stakeholders, will define a co-designed curriculum of cultural safety in medical education. 3) A parallel group RCT and narrative-based techniques will compare a game learning intervention informed by the co-designed curriculum with a standard lesson on cultural safety in terms of behavior change for medical students.

Some medical curricula have successfully implemented cultural safety in the past. However, this will be the first co-designed curriculum encompassing the views of several stakeholders. This will be also the first initiative using game-based learning in cultural safety training.

SETTING: Initiative time period: September 2016 – December 2020

Location: Colombia

Stakeholders: Medical students, family medicine residents, and traditional medicine from Colombia. Intercultural health experts from Colombia and Canada

CONCLUSIONS: The research should provide evidence to support cultural safety in medical education and develop participatory methods in game learning. Ultimately, it should provide improved cultural safety skills for medical students, improved quality of health services, and enhanced overall population health. This work will be relevant beyond Colombia: lack of cultural safety in health care is a global health issue.

FUNDING: Rodolfo Llinás Fellowship (Colombia).