PSYCHOLOGY and speech pathology students at Curtin University are developing their patient empathy skills through ‘real life’ learning with the help of the avatar Jim, an elderly Australian farmer with mild dementia.

Jim ‘came to life’ in 2014 to be used by undergraduate and masters speech pathology students in the areas of gerontology and dementia.

The avatar helps to train dementia care workers, families of people with dementia, and workers in aged care facilities in metropolitan and rural areas.

A recent collaborative study led by Janet Beilby from the School of Psychology and Speech Pathology investigated undergraduate speech pathology students’ self-rated communication skills, knowledge, confidence and empathy across simulated and traditional learning environments.

Dr Beilby said advanced communication skills were vital for allied health professionals, yet students often had limited opportunities to develop these essential pre-clinical skills.

“The demands of increased clinical placement hours in a climate of constrained budgets, limited placement availability and growing student numbers are combining to cause a shortage of prospective placements,” she said.

“As such, many educators are considering the potentials of alternative training methods, such as simulated learning.

Dr Beilby said study tools such as Jim extended beyond the healthcare system, because although he was not real, he created a real learning experience for students.

Students were randomly allocated to one of three communication partners: a current nursing home patient; an older actor trained to portray an elderly patient; or virtual patient Jim.

They then engaged with them for up to 30 minutes.

The students completed their self-assessments one week before the conversational interaction, and then immediately after.

Dr Beilby said many students wanted to gain practical experience working with patients to build their confidence and proficiency with practitioner and patient communications prior to commencing their clinical placements. Interacting with Jim allowed them to better prepare for these real life situations.

“Jim gave them practice and real experience in what a challenging conversation with an elderly client would be like and made them think about how they would respond appropriately in certain situations,” she said.

“When speaking to Jim, he might not answer some questions or he might become angry or cry when pressed for information, which adds to a realistic experience for the students.”

Study results showed that at various times, students thought the avatar was more challenging to communicate with than human patients and the students generally had to work harder to build rapport and empathy in this virtual clinical exchange.

“It was harder for the students because there isn’t the same opportunity with an avatar to use comforting cues, such as nonverbal reassurances that express empathy, and it is more difficult to read subtle, intimate body language,” Dr Beilby said.

“Using Jim allows students to develop essential verbal communication skills with potentially difficult individuals in a way that is otherwise hard to teach without practical experience.”

Dr Beilby said the next development for Jim would include artificial intelligence and voice recognition software.

Other plans include having Jim placed in a virtual hospital bed to help students learn how to prepare for and conduct bedside assessments.