Students' perceptions about the aging effects of using simulators

Abstract: The use of simulation technologies in teaching and learning contributes to the preparation of healthcare professionals, by supporting the experience of changing places, providing better future professional practice. Objective: To understand university students' perceptions of the use of the "Advanced Simulator of the Effects of Aging," which seeks to simulate musculoskeletal, auditory, visual, and tactile changes in previously programmed activities of daily living. Method: This is an exploratory, observational, qualitative and quantitative study. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Results: Eighteen university students from a public university in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, participated in the study. The average age of the participants was 25.6 years, 17 female and 2 male. The data generated the thematic categories: "Limitations of the Simulator" and "Effects of Simulator Use." Regarding the limitations of the simulator, the size of the equipment's components made it difficult to fit bodies with different biotypes, influencing movement control and task completion. Stands out that overloading wrist and/or ankle weights seemed to worsen task performance, especially after a few minutes of use, which could compromise the performance evaluation if considering the beginning and end of the activity. Discomfort in performing tasks with equipment attached to the body was reported, which in itself would affect performance. Regarding the effects of the simulator, limitations on vision and mobility were the most frequently described. The change in the visual field influenced balance and other components of neuromuscular performance, task planning, and perception of safety. Cognitively, participants reported that they needed to recruit more attention, causing greater fatigue, slowness and consequently, limited overall performance. Discussion: From the perspective of the technology development process, simulation practice represents an opportunity to raise the project team's awareness of users' potential difficulties, thus contributing to the development of solutions that better meet their needs. Empathy strategies implemented in the design process can benefit students' creative process and promote the development of better-performing solutions (YESILTEPE; DEMIRKAN, 2025). Conclusion: The experience of raising awareness about the difficulties arising from the aging process brought students closer to the functional changes experienced by older adults, sometimes highlighting negative aspects of functional losses and describing the experience as frustrating, and sometimes fostering empathy with older adults when they identified the important changes of aging. Awareness-raising initiatives can benefit the training of students in the healthcare field and those working on projects and technology development focused on older adults. They highlight the need for a simulator that has items of varying sizes to be used with different biotypes and that the visual changes proposed by the simulator are more realistic compared to those experienced by older adults. The results point to the need to adapt the use of this aging simulation system to teaching purposes, associated with participant feedback to minimize anxiety and the development of ageist attitudes towards aging.

Keywords: Simulation, Aging, Training, Daily activities, Gerontechnology.

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1006804

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