Speaker
Speaker Info
- Name
- Sophie May
- Organization
- Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Biography
- Sophie is a healthcare educator and clinical education specialist with a focus on simulation, game-based learning, and digital innovation in health professions education. With over a decade of experience designing and delivering interprofessional learning for nurses, paramedics, and allied health professionals, their work centres on enhancing clinical reasoning, teamwork, and communication in urgent and emergency care contexts. Drawing on postgraduate research in healthcare education, Sophie integrates pedagogical theory with creative design methodologies, using gamification, simulation, and interactive technologies to improve learner engagement and performance. Their recent projects explore low-cost, high-impact educational interventions—including simulation escape rooms and digital learning tools—to promote collaboration, reflective practice, and confidence in complex clinical decision-making. Passionate about accessible and evidence-informed education, Sophie champions inclusivity and co-production, working alongside clinicians and subject matter experts to design scalable, sustainable training solutions. Their initiatives have supported workforce development across NHS-affiliated education programs, with measurable improvements in learner engagement and preparedness for practice. At the Games for Health conference, Sophie shares insights from the “High Impact, Low Fidelity” project, highlighting how gamified strategies and learning-design thinking can transform simulation-based education and strengthen clinical teams’ readiness for the challenges of modern geriatric care.
Photo
- Photo
Presentation Info
- Title
- High Impact, Low Fidelity: Designing an Elderly Care Escape Room Simulation through Gamification and VARK
- Summary
- Training healthcare professionals in complex elderly care requires engaging, collaborative learning—but high-fidelity simulation can be prohibitive. This project presents a resource-conscious escape room simulation designed for interprofessional urgent care practitioners (nurses and paramedics), combining gamification principles with the Visual, Aural, Read/Write, Kinaesthetic (VARK) framework to increase impact and engagement. The activity aimed to enhance clinical reasoning, teamwork, and problem-solving in managing older adults’ multifaceted needs. A co-design process with subject matter experts mapped puzzle tasks to key learning objectives, including falls, medication management, and psychological assessment. Game elements—goal orientation, feedback, and challenge—were integrated to sustain motivation, while puzzles appealed to varied VARK preferences to strengthen inclusivity. AI-assisted tools supported clue sequencing and scenario refinement. The simulation, delivered between September 2024 and April 2025, was evaluated using mixed methods: pre/post questionnaires on confidence and preparedness and qualitative feedback on experience and collaboration. Participants reported uniformly high engagement (4–5/5) and significantly increased confidence managing elderly care scenarios; 75% noted improved preparedness for elderly falls management. Qualitative themes highlighted the session’s enjoyability, teamwork enhancement, and appreciation for collective problem-solving. This pilot demonstrates that high-impact interprofessional simulation can be achieved without expensive technology. By blending gamification, inclusive design, and co-production, the model offers a scalable approach to strengthening engagement, creativity, and workforce readiness in elderly care.
- Keynote
- Presentation
- GFHEU Year
- 2026
Info
- Info