The afternoon of March 1st, over 100 students and faculty participated in a unique poverty simulation designed to better help them understand the complexities and frustrations experienced by future patients who are living in poverty. The simulation exercise was designed to sensitize students and faculty who frequently deal with low-income families as well as to create a broader awareness of poverty among policymakers, community leaders and others.
Participants role-played the lives of low-income families, including some who are disabled, and some senior citizens on Social Security. During the exercise, they had the stressful task of providing for basic necessities and shelter on a limited budget during the course of four 15-minute "weeks." They interacted with other participants role-playing representatives of human service agencies, grocers, pawnbrokers, bill collectors, job interviewers, police officers and others. Difficult decisions needed to be made about affording life necessities or seeking medical care.