Sensibilisiert für den Umgang mit älteren Patient*innen

Demographic ageing of the population is now also clearly recognisable in medical care. It is therefore important to start raising awareness for older patients and their age-related limitations early in medical studies.

The objective is to evaluate age simulation-based teaching in terms of quality and sustainability and to investigate whether students recognise changes in their empathic interaction with older people because of the age simulation experience.

A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted online in 2022/2023 with two cohorts of medical students in their first semester (n = 180, response rate 40%). Empathy scores were measured using the shortened “Saarbrücker personality questionnaire”. Pearson chi-square tests, Fisher exact tests, mean comparisons (t-tests) and analyses of variance (ANOVA, post hoc tests) were calculated.

The students rate the age simulation-based teaching lesson well on average. The simulation experiences are perceived as rather to very sustainable by 91%. On average, the students received high empathy scores (mean: 32.37, standard deviation 3.99). Around 74% report a slight to strong increase (4 to 5 points on a scale from very reduced to very increased) in empathic interaction with older people because of the simulation-based teaching exercises. This increase correlates positively with the level of the empathy score (ANOVA, p = 0.001). Students with previous practical experience in the medical field rated the increase in empathy through the simulation exercises lower in comparison to students without such previous experience (p = 0.001).

Age simulation-based training appears to be an effective teaching method for promoting an empathetic understanding of age-related restrictions in medical students right from the start of their studies. Students without previous professional experience perceive an increase in their empathy for older people as a result of the simulation exercises.