An important SIMBA milestone: the guidelines for the implementation of simulation-based learning in occupational therapy education

After a year of intense work, rigorous research and successful collaboration, the SIMBA project team is proud to announce the completion of one of the first key milestones of the project: the SIMBA Guidelines for the implementation of simulation-based learning in occupational therapy education. These Guidelines are the result of activities conducted within Work Package Two of the project, which included a structured narrative review of the literature on simulation-based learning (SBL) in occupational therapy (OT) education and other allied health professions and two focus group studies that examined the perspectives of OT stakeholders (educators, practitioners, and students) and experts in SBL in occupational therapy education.

The Guidelines represent an in-depth overview of existing theoretical, empirical, methodological, and contextual knowledge about the application of a simulation paradigm to the acquisition and assessment of professional competencies in occupational therapy. It is intended to be a practical guide for ongoing activities in the SIMBA project as well as for all educators, programme developers, and practice mentors interested in integrating simulation methodologies into their educational practice. Together with concise definitions of key concepts, theories and paradigms informing SBL in OT education, it presents a detailed and step-by-step framework for the conception, development, implementation, and evaluation of simulation-based learning in undergraduate occupational therapy educational programmes.

In ongoing project activities, the Guidelines are being applied to the creation of a template for the simulation scenario development. Using this template, SIMBA partners are constructing a diverse range of scenarios for supporting the acquisition and assessment of numerous occupational therapy competencies throughout the OT process and across diverse practice areas.  These scenarios will be implemented, evaluated and validated in the occupational therapy programmes of all project partners in the 2024-2025 academic year and will subsequently be available as a resource on the SIMBA web platform.

The full Guidelines will soon be available as an open-access resource on the SIMBA website, along with the complementary SIMBA Framework of occupational therapy competencies for simulation-based learning and an online webinar. This webinar will introduce interested viewers to both documents and provide an overview of how they can be used to inform the development and implementation of SBL in OT education. Be sure to stay tuned to our website for ongoing news of SIMBA project activities!