“Nothing about me without me”: the Indigenous voice in simulation scenario design.

Introduction (context and identification of educational need
In Australia and Canada, Indigenous peoples face significant health disparities compared with non-Indigenous peoples. Attributing factors include socioeconomic disadvantage, social exclusion and racism (1, 2). Nursing education plays a key role in reducing Indigenous health inequities, yet many educational approaches have historically come from a place of colonialism, privilege and power (3). The momentum for indigenous health training has progressed significantly over the last decade with the development of the Close the Gap report and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework in Australia, and the “Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Call to Action” in Canada.
Successful immersive training experiences in Indigenous health have been implemented in both countries however there are challenges in how Indigenous peoples have been included in the development and delivering of these experiences.
Description (description of methods used / program / strategy
In 2022, a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program was established between Holmesglen Institute in Melbourne, Australia and Northwestern Polytechnic in Alberta, Canada. A range of digital educational technologies were incorporated into the teaching activities including a virtual global classroom and virtual reality (VR) simulations. A new virtual reality module was created on Indigenous Health focused on the First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples of Canada. Members of the local Indigenous ‘Friendship Centre’ played a pivotal role in developing the VR script and two Indigenous actors played lead roles in the scenario. An additional video was produced where the actors shared their personal experiences of receiving health care and the powerful impact of their contribution in the scenario.
Discussion (discussion of interest, impact/outcome, and novel of the methods
The Indigenous led creation of the scenario represented an authentic way to teach culturally safe clinical encounters to students and teachers where the voice of Indigenous peoples could be genuinely heard. Regardless of their country of origin, students highly valued the actor’s portrayal in the VR and the opportunity to hear their lived experience stories. Faculty gained insights into Indigenous history and culture and how to apply that to their own nursing and teaching practices.
1. Sauvé, Amanda MD1; Cappelletti, Adriana MD2; Murji, Latif MD3. Stand Up for Indigenous Health: A Simulation to Educate Residents About the Social Determinants of Health Faced by Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Academic Medicine: April 2022 - Volume 97 - Issue 4 - p 518-523 doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000004570
2. Markwick, A., Ansari, Z., Clinch, D. et al. Experiences of racism among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults living in the Australian state of Victoria: a cross-sectional population-based study. BMC Public Health 19, 309 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6614-7
3. Carolyn Hayes (2021) Treading carefully on sovereign ground: reflections of a settler teaching an Indigenous health and wellbeing subject in Australia, Contemporary Nurse, 57:5, 312-316, DOI: 10.1080/10376178.2022.2027255