Game changer: Pharmacy students' perceptions of an educational “Party Hat” game to enhance communication and collaboration skills
- Publisher:
- Elsevier BV
- Publication Type:
- Journal Article
- Citation:
- Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, 2020, 12, (4), pp. 442-449
- Issue Date:
- 2020
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| 1-s2.0-S1877129719301893-main.pdf | Published version | 770.84 kB |
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© 2019 Elsevier Inc. Background and purpose: Educational games can be utilized as a tool to enhance communication and collaboration skill development and to bridge the gap between classroom learning and the practice environment. This study explores pharmacy students' perceptions of a game to enhance communication and collaboration. Educational activity and setting: Pre-licenced pharmacy students from an Australian metropolitan university engaged in a “Party Hat” game, where the goal was to communicate and collaborate with their peers to provide a discharge plan for a patient. “Party hats” with different instructions (e.g., agree with everything they say) were randomly provided to all students. Students were not privy to the instruction on their own party hat. The other students in the group were required to adhere to the instruction on their peers' hats while communicating. To gauge barriers to effective communication and collaboration, a debriefing session was conducted and written feedback was obtained. The debriefing session was transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was conducted. Findings: Forty-nine students participated in the game. All students provided written feedback, and 15 students participated in the debriefing session. Emergent themes included: (1) inherent biases affecting communication and patient outcomes, (2) importance for an effective group leader, (3) importance for respect for other opinions, and (4) words can affect people. Effective communication and collaboration between healthcare professionals is an important skill. Using educational games to engage students is one of the ways in which educators can teach students the importance of delivering effective communication and of engaging in collaboration with their peers for better patient outcomes.
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