manikins Archives - SEM Trainers

Empowering India’s Healthcare Future: Transformative Medical Training for an Aging Population

Just imagine, by the year 2050, one in five Indians will be over the age of 60, twice the proportion that was in 2022. India’s average life expectancy rose from 62.1 years in 2000 to 70.8 years in 2019, according to the World Health Organization. This demographic shift will need preparations on various fronts including the economy, and more urgently, in nursing and public healthcare systems.

Further, 80% of the elderly are in rural India, more than half are women and 30% live below the poverty line, national data show, making it imperative for primary care systems to be strengthened and attuned to changing needs.

The rapid aging of India’s population poses significant challenges to its healthcare infrastructure. As the country grapples with the implications of an increasingly elderly demographic, it becomes essential to prioritize the training and education of medical professionals equipped to handle the specific and evolving healthcare needs of the elderly. In response to this pressing need, we at SEM Trainers have been at the forefront of providing comprehensive medical training using advanced medical manikins, with a special focus on catering to the healthcare requirements of the aging population.

At SEM Trainers, we understand the crucial role that medical manikins play in clinical skill labs, facilitating hands-on learning experiences for healthcare professionals. Our medical manikins, Teri and Geri, have been meticulously designed to replicate the physiological characteristics and medical needs of senior citizens, enabling medical practitioners to gain practical exposure and develop essential skills for geriatric care. With their lifelike features and programmable functionalities, Teri and Geri serve as indispensable tools for medical personnel to practice various medical procedures and interventions that are specifically tailored for the elderly.

In a country where access to quality healthcare remains a persistent concern, empowering medical practitioners in medical colleges with the necessary expertise to address the unique healthcare needs of the elderly is paramount. Through our comprehensive training programs, which leverage the advanced capabilities of Teri and Geri, we strive to foster a generation of healthcare professionals who are not only well-versed in the intricacies of geriatric medicine but also equipped with the compassion and empathy required to provide holistic care to the elderly population.

The impact of effective medical training goes beyond the realm of skill development; it extends to the broader landscape of healthcare accessibility and inclusivity. By nurturing a skilled workforce proficient in geriatric care, let’s aim to bridge the existing gaps in the healthcare system and ensure that the elderly, particularly those from underprivileged backgrounds, receive the attention and treatment they rightfully deserve.

With our advanced male/female elderly patient care trainer for medical simulation – Advanced GERi™ Manikin, an evolution from the GERi/KERi manikins. With an even more lifelike appearance and weight distribution mimicking a real patient, it facilitates realistic lifting and carrying experiences. This comprehensive simulation encompasses various visual inspections and patient care simulations, including procedures for skin issues, wound dressing, personal hygiene, and a diverse array of medical interventions. It also incorporates an extensive array of features such as IV training arms, blood pressure training arms, and standard arms for comprehensive medical training.

And with our comprehensive male/female elderly patient care trainer designed for medical simulation- TERi™ Androgynous Geriatric Patient Simulator, building upon the success of our GERi/KERi manikins. This upgraded model boasts a remarkably lifelike appearance and weight distribution, closely mirroring the human anatomy for an authentic lifting and carrying experience. The simulation package includes features for auscultation and patient monitoring. It facilitates a range of activities such as passive range of motion exercises, cardiovascular support including CPR training, intravenous and injection sites for medical procedures, nasogastric tube procedures, enhanced aesthetics including realistic skin features, respiratory support for manual ventilation and oxygen administration, grooming and daily living assistance, and advanced skills such as urinary catheterization and pelvic examinations.

In essence, the evolution of medical manikins like Teri and Geri has revolutionized the way healthcare professionals approach geriatric care. By providing a platform for immersive and experiential learning, these state-of-the-art simulators have become instrumental in shaping a more proficient and empathetic cadre of medical practitioners capable of addressing the multifaceted healthcare challenges posed by an aging population. As we continue to witness the transformative impact of our training programs, we remain steadfast in our mission to catalyze positive change in the realm of geriatric healthcare and contribute to the well-being of the elderly in India and beyond.

The Role of Fidelity in Simulation Training

Fidelity comes from the Latin word fidēlis, meaning faithful or loyal. Generally speaking, fidelity is the degree of exactness with which something is copied or reproduced.

What is Fidelity in Simulation Training?

We have always emphasized on the role and benefits of using simulation for training aspiring doctors and nurses. Simulators are devices that imitate the real-life medical environment, but in a safe way, so learners can practice with real-time feedback but without the risks involved.

In simulation, fidelity is a term that denotes the degree to which the simulator replicates reality. Simply speaking, it is how well the simulator is able to imitate a real-life medical environment, or how close it gets to a real scenario. So, a simulator that depicts a real scenario really well would be termed “high-fidelity”, and one that does not so much, “low-fidelity”. A low-fidelity simulation is less realistic than a high-fidelity one.

Levels of Fidelity in Simulation

In 1990, Miller sketched out a pyramid depicting how a person’s actions are built upon his knowledge, competence, and performance. An increased level of fidelity in simulation may correspond to a transformation from knowledge to competence, performance, and ultimately, action.

We observe the following levels of fidelity in simulation:

Low-Fidelity Simulation: This level of simulation helps build knowledge. This may not be very realistic, but it takes away the stress of the situation and lets the learner focus on learning the skill. Take static models and 2D displays for example.
Mid-Fidelity Simulation: This one is a bit more realistic and helps build competence in the learner. Take, for example, full-body manikins that imitate real heart and breathing sounds. Learners can use these to train on procedures like IV insertions, injections, and NG tube insertions.
High-Fidelity Simulation: These are the most realistic simulations- the closest to real life. Take, for example, full-body computerized manikins that can talk and run pre-programmed scenarios.

Types of Fidelity in Simulation

Fidelity can be physical, psychological, and conceptual. Physical fidelity can be perceived by the senses. If your manikin’s skin feels like real skin, and body parts react and bleed like they would on a real patient, it increases the degree of physical fidelity. Task-trainers, or lifelike manikin simulators representing a part of the body can help train on specific skills and focus on functional fidelity. And when they allow haptic feedback, that increases the degree of physical fidelity. Moulage, or applying makeup to mock injury, can engage learners’ sensory perceptions.

If you introduce some realistic background noises to the simulated setting, you will increase the physical fidelity, consequently also increasing the psychological fidelity as it elicits an emotional response from the learner and raises stress levels. If all aspects of your simulated scenario accurately represent how they would be in a real scenario, such that it makes sense to the learner, you have high conceptual fidelity.

Beyond the three major classifications, fidelity may also be classified as functional fidelity, which is the dynamic interaction between the learner and the task at hand, and sociological fidelity, which is how the interactions between the participants affect the level of realism.

So What Degree of Fidelity Do We Really Need?

Ideally, we want all simulators to be high-fidelity, but limited procurement budgets make that hard to achieve. So, often, we must settle for a trade-off between the degree of fidelity and the cost of procurement, or “mid-fidelity”. In high-stress environments, the costs may be monetary as well as loss of human life. We will discuss various scenarios ahead in the discourse.

Scenarios to Imagine

Imagine this. A well-established gaming company comes up with an exciting idea for a new game, and the developers must build it soon. A high-fidelity videogame would be meticulous with the graphics, the gameplay, and the story. A game that would manage to ignore even one of these aspects could fail to create an immersive, realistic gaming experience. This would result in a failure of the game to launch successfully, and possibly cost the company millions of dollars, along with ruining its reputation. Here, the cost would be monetary.

In the application of aircraft or driving simulation, higher fidelity would be required. Poor training and poor decisions made under high-stress, emergency situations in real-life could result in fatal outcomes. In emergency situations on an actual plane, you would expect your pilots to make the right decisions at the right time regardless of the immense stress of an urgent, unfamiliar situation. This cannot be made possible without training in high-fidelity simulation.

If we take the military for example, soldiers may be trained for combat in a high-fidelity simulation. Such training must prepare the soldier for making resource-aware decisions and train them in dealing with a variety of unexpected situations. Training for this in low-fidelity simulations may not prepare a soldier for combat, but create the illusion of competence.

Ultimately, the degree of fidelity exercised in simulation can impact the levels of confidence and anxiety. If learners practice in low-fidelity environments, they might incorrectly assume confidence. Being met with unexpected developments in-field can render a state of disillusionment and disbelief in the training, revealing that they were, in fact, unprepared, and further leading to possibly catastrophic consequences.

However, it is also true that learners and educators are biased towards HFS (High-Fidelity Simulation), and that higher levels of fidelity may increase the cognitive load on the learner to the point of overwhelming him, effectively decreasing learning. Maybe beginners would be better off starting with low-fidelity simulation and then move up as they gain experience. Low-fidelity simulation may also be preferred when training on skills that call for repeated practice.

For More Detailed Information Contact Us on sem@semtrainers.com or +91-88495 63724 .