Understanding the Effects of Health Care Distance Simulation: A Systematic Review.

ABSTRACT: The use of distance simulation has rapidly expanded in recent years with the physical distance requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic. With this development, there has been a concurrent increase in research activities and publications on distance simulation. The authors conducted a systematic review of the peer-reviewed distance health care simulation literature. Data extraction and a risk-of-bias assessment were performed on selected articles. Review of the databases and gray literature reference lists identified 10,588 titles for review. Of those, 570 full-text articles were assessed, with 54 articles included in the final analysis. Most of these were published during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022). None of the included studies examined an outcome higher than a Kirkpatrick level of 2. Most studies only examined low-level outcomes such as satisfaction with the simulation session. There was, however, a distinction in studies that were conducted in a learning environment where all participants were in different locations ("distance only") as compared with where some of the participants shared the same location ("mixed distance"). This review exclusively considered studies that focused solely on distance. More comparative studies exploring higher level outcomes are required to move the field forward.

Cultural Considerations in the Formal Process of Simulation Curriculum Adaptation: A Scoping Review.

SUMMARY STATEMENT: Transborder curriculum partnerships in health professions education have been increasing in numbers in recent years. These partnerships present unique challenges when transferring curricula from one context to another. It has been noted that cultural differences between institutions, faculty, staff, and learners can have profound effects on collaboration. Given the significant need for context and fidelity (especially relative to cultural considerations) in healthcare simulation education, there are gaps that need to be addressed in the transfer of these curricula. A scoping literature review was conducted examining recently published articles with relevance to simulation curriculum design or adaptation in transborder contexts to determine to what extent cultural elements are considered in the design and adaptation of simulation-based education in transborder curriculum partnerships. This review resulted in 19 studies requiring full-text review. Studies represented every region of the world with both near and distant proximity of partnering parties. From the reviewed studies, 8 categories related to curriculum adaptation were identified. These categories, when compared with the themes present in Campinha-Bacote's model of cultural competency, showed complete overlap with the 5 themes of the model plus an additional theme complementary to the model. This scoping review demonstrates that cultural considerations clearly play a role in the adaptation of simulation curricula in transborder healthcare curricular partnerships, but further research is needed to further define the exact nature of that relationship.