An Interprofessional Simulation to Address Health Misinformation and Vaccine Hesitancy

Authors

Sara W. Nelson, Department of Emergency Medicine, MaineHealth Maine Medical Center, Portland, MaineFollow
Leah Mallory, Department of Pediatrics, MaineHealth Maine Medical Center, Portland, Maine
Shelly Cohen Konrad, School of Pharmacy, University of New England, Portland, Maine
Emily K. Dornblaser, Center to Advance Interprofessional Education and Practice, University of New England, Portland, Maine
Stephanie D. Nichols, Center to Advance Interprofessional Education and Practice, University of New England, Portland, Maine
Jennifer Hayman, Department of Pediatrics, MaineHealth Maine Medical Center, Portland, Maine

Submission Type

Original Research

Abstract

Introduction: The complexity of contemporary health care delivery underscores the need for future health care professionals to be adept at working in interprofessional teams and effectively managing the growing issue of medical misinformation. However, current health curricula often lack content on misinformation and have few, if any, opportunities for students to practice addressing misinformation with patients and colleagues.

Methods: To address this gap, our cross-institutional team developed a novel interprofessional simulation exercise and accompanying prework toolkit designed to develop communication skills for managing difficult conversations about COVID-19 misinformation. Ten third-year medical and 10 third-year pharmacy students piloted the toolkit and participated in a simulated interprofessional office visit with a standardized patient. A thematic analysis was conducted to gather students’ feedback for quality improvement.

Results: We found four central themes in the transcripts of the student debriefs: (1) learners recognized that addressing COVID misinformation is an important and challenging patient care topic; (2) learners used advanced communication skills to navigate difficult conversations; 3) learners explored how to collaborate interprofessionally through relationship-building and defining roles; and 4) learners experienced the power of an interprofessional team.

Discussion: Students valued the opportunity to learn and practice strategies to explicitly address misinformation. They viewed motivational interviewing techniques and interprofessional collaboration as useful tools for navigating difficult conversations.

Conclusions: Interprofessional simulation with a standardized patient can be meaningfully used to train health professional students in advanced communication skills, management of medical misinformation, and interprofessional collaborative competencies.

Recommended Citation

Nelson, Sara W.; Mallory, Leah; Konrad, Shelly Cohen; Dornblaser, Emily K.; Nichols, Stephanie D.; and Hayman, Jennifer (2025) "An Interprofessional Simulation to Address Health Misinformation and Vaccine Hesitancy," Journal of Maine Medical Center: Vol. 7 : Iss. 1 , Article 16.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.46804/2641-2225.1231