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. 2022 Jan 11:15:103-110.
doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S344815. eCollection 2022.

Acquisition of Learning and Empathy Towards Patients in Nursing Students Through Online Escape Room: An Exploratory Qualitative Study

José M Rodríguez-Ferrer  1 , Ana Manzano-León  1 , Adolfo J Cangas  1 , José M Aguilar-Parra  1 , Carolina Fernández-Jiménez  2 , Juan M Fernández-Campoy  3 , Antonio Luque de la Rosa  3 , Ana M Martínez-Martínez  3
Affiliations

Acquisition of Learning and Empathy Towards Patients in Nursing Students Through Online Escape Room: An Exploratory Qualitative Study

José M Rodríguez-Ferrer et al. Psychol Res Behav Manag. .

Abstract

Background: Currently, there are still prejudices and negative beliefs towards people with severe mental disorder. The stigma of healthcare professionals can affect both recovery time and patients' own self-stigma. In universities, it is necessary to reduce these prejudices through training on mental health.

Purpose: The purpose of this research has been to assess the use of educational escape rooms as a learning and awareness strategy on stigmatizing attitudes towards people with serious mental disorders in university students.

Methods: An online escape room has been designed whose narrative shows the daily life of a person with a serious mental illness. An exploratory qualitative study has been carried out to explore the perception of 44 university students from two Andalusian universities about this escape room.

Results: The results of the study show that most of the interviewed students consider that the educational escape room has been a fun and motivating learning strategy, which has allowed them to learn cooperatively and empathize with the protagonist with a mental disorder.

Conclusion: Online escape rooms can be a useful strategy for teaching health sciences students. Considering it a fun activity, students are more participatory and engaged to the curricular content, in our case, stigmatizing attitudes towards people with serious mental disorders.

Keywords: educational innovation; empathy; escape room; motivation; serious mental disorder; stigma.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Escape room flowchart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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