CU Dental 2018 - 12

Poverty Simulation Helps Dental Students
Gain Knowledge, Compassion
KATHLEEN BOHLAND UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

New course introduces students to
barriers and inequities in accessing care

I

n under an hour, Margaret, 57, a grandmother who
suffered a stroke and is partially paralyzed, lost her
foods stamps, faced eviction from her home and was
robbed of her jewelry and valuables. These events
left her and her son, Miles, 36, his wife, Melinda, 36,
and their daughter, Mandy, 15, confused, frustrated
and worried.
This was no ordinary family. First-year CU School of
Dental Medicine students took on these roles during the
first-ever Poverty Simulation, a three-hour session in which
they experienced the same struggles as real low-income
families. Having the time and money for dental and health
care was often last on the list as these families worked to
pay rent, buy food and take care of their children.
"My family is out working or looking for work and it's
kind of frustrating because I'm paralyzed and I have to stay
here and can't help more," says dental student Rebecca
Ryan, 24, who played Margaret, the family matriarch. "But
that's the reality of life - it can change in a second and
that's what happened to Margaret."
The Poverty Simulation is part of Community
Engagement I, a fall class that introduced 81 first-year
dental students to public dental health, says William
D. Bailey, DDS, MPH, CU School of Dental Medicine
Chair, Department of Community Dentistry and Population
Health.
Above photo from left, dental students Stanford Smith, Rebecca Ryan,
Hassanain Zaheer and Messay Ibrahim play the roles of a family living in
poverty to learn more about the struggles of low-income families.

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CU DENTAL 2018

"We want our students to be aware of the barriers and
inequities in accessing dental and health care," says Bailey,
adding that the hands-on Poverty Simulation experience is
more powerful than any lecture.
The goals of the simulation were to raise students'
awareness of the realities of poverty, while helping them
understand stereotypes and misconceptions about lowincome families, says Deidre Callanan, RDH, DC, MPH,
a CU School of Dental Medicine Clinical Instructor,
Community Engagement.
"The hope is that students now understand some of the
barriers and frustrations to accessing services, including
health and dental care for those with limited resources,"
Callanan says. "We want our students to graduate with a
deeper understanding, respect and compassion for their
patients while they are out in the community, in the school
clinics and when they become practicing dentists."

How the simulation works
At the start of the Poverty Simulation, students received
packets and worked in groups as makeshift families. The
packets provided them descriptions of family members,
their ages, employment situation, health status, income
and monthly bills. Some families owned vehicles; others
could only use bus passes to get where they needed to go.
Their tasks? They had to provide food, shelter
and basic necessities for a month. They also received
information on resources that would help them survive.
About 20 community volunteers represented various



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CU Dental 2018

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