A Systematic Approach to Designing Scenarios Involving Older Adult Simulated Participants

In this chapter, we orient readers to key concepts in scenario design, the most common format for older SP participation in healthcare simulations. We view scenario design as spanning every phase of simulation practice, including planning considerations, the scenario itself (the story line), briefing all those involved, implementation, feedback/debriefing, reflection, deroling, assessment, and evaluation. Scenario documents include all the information required to run a simulation. The chapter is written for anyone interested in developing scenarios with a focus on the older adult SP. We introduce foundational concepts; we navigate simulation language and offer considerations in broad educational design in scenario-based learning including recommendations of resources. We offer questions older SPs may ask prior to involvement in simulations and provide examples of how older adults with lived experiences and older SPs can codesign scenarios, and we offer a scenario review framework. To illustrate the scenario design process, we embed a published framework for older SPs into the NHET-Sim phases, a national training programme in Australia.