Here are the finalists of the Public Health Crisis Communication Simulation Scenario Competition

On Monday, 11 March 2024, the four best entries in the Public Health Crisis Communication Simulation Competition were chosen. Next Friday, 22 March, these projects will compete for the main prize at the Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) International Student Conference (ISC) Health and Social Sciences: a trip to the 17th European Public Health Conference organised by the European Public Health Association in Lisbon (Portugal). 

To take part in the competition, students were invited to create interdisciplinary teams á three participants. The jury, composed of representatives from the Institute of Public Health, the Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, the Faculty of Social Sciences, and the Medical Education Technology Centre, nominated 4 teams for the final round:

1. Tobacco product-induced healthcare crisis simulation (TAIVA) by Maija Pēce, Viktorija Kuņicina, Annija Ermiča
2. Legionella spp. case simulation (Sim-IPE) by Klinta Luīze Sprūdža, Renāte Rūta Apse, Lauma Balode
3. Disinformation and healthism in the dairy sector (Āboliņš) by Ieva Siksaliete, Laima Unzule, Katrīna Faibuševiča
4. Environmental pollution in the village of Lielejas (Lielejas) by Justīne Estere Vilka, Laura Līpenīte, Ance Kazuša                         
                        

The goal of the competition is to enhance students' skills in managing and solving public health crisis communication situations, to promote public health, as well as to develop a simulation-based educational approach. The competition will enrich the content of RSU study programmes as the winning scenario will be incorporated in the study process.

The finalists’ ideas will be presented in pitch format at the RSU ISC and the winner of the competition will be announced on 22 March 2024. The winning team will have the unique opportunity to attend the 17th European Public Health Conference organised by the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) on 12-15 November 2024 in Lisbon. The annual conference brings together around 2,400 participants from all continents, 400 of whom are students. After the international student conference, the 4 finalist teams will work with mentors from related fields to develop their scenario ideas into simulations that can further be integrated into the study process at RSU.

A total of 12 scenarios were submitted to the competition, bringing together both Latvian and international students from the Medicine, Public Health, Public Relations, Rehabilitation and Nutrition Science programmes in different interdisciplinary teams. The scenarios presented by the students proposed solutions to various crisis situations, such as outbreaks of various infections and environmental pollution, recruiting blood donors in wartime, public education and the spread of disinformation in society, harm caused by tobacco products, the spread of rabies and a cyber-attack on the health system.