Extending simulation learning experiences to patients with chronic health conditions.

Integrated care promotes a key element of population-based health--supporting individuals and their family caregivers in the self-management of chronic health conditions. Inadequate support for self-care in turn leads to poor health outcomes, recidivism, and subsequent higher health care expenditures. In the absence of any type of feedback loop, health care professionals are simply unaware of where the breakdown occurs. When it comes to how we prepare health care professionals to manage acute and chronic health conditions, simulation experiences are recognized as the single most prominent innovation in medical education. If there is such consensus on the effectiveness of simulation, why don’t we offer this learning approach to our patients? Offering patients a simulation experience would help us to identify obstacles and adjust the care plan accordingly. Proof of concept for the feasibility and value of offering patients and their family caregivers simulation experiences is found in a growing number of illustrative examples that will be described. Simulation has become the gold standard for how we train health care professionals to manage health conditions. Perhaps now is the ideal time for us to ask: shouldn’t our patients learn about managing chronic health conditions the way we do?