Cultivating Inclusivity: A Pilot Study Utilizing Simulation-Based Approaches for Weight Bias Mitigation

•Weight bias infiltrates healthcare, and many providers hold negative attitudes and beliefs toward individuals with obesity.•Integrating weight bias reduction (WBR) education into the nursing curriculum is a modality that may mitigate weight bias in nurse practitioner students.•Utilizing simulation-based experiences with standardized participants living with a higher body may further reduce weight bias in providers. The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of a weight bias reduction (WBR) intervention, including simulation-based experiences (SBEs) with standardized participants (SP) living with obesity, to reduce weight bias in nurse practitioner (NP) students. NP students (n = 18) participated in three SBEs over the course of three academic semesters. Each SBE session was accompanied by an interactive WBR intervention and debriefing for meaningful learning (DML) segment, which focused on increasing awareness of weight bias in healthcare, using person first language, and fostering communication skills and interactive dialogue related to motivational interviewing and shared-decision making. Students completed the attitudes towards obese persons (ATOP), beliefs about obese persons (BAOP), and Nurses Attitudes Towards Obese and Obese Patients Scale (NATOOPS) questionnaires, pre- and post-intervention. Clinical communication skills were assessed using the self-efficacy scale (SE-12) and the SEGUE Framework, pre- and post-intervention. ATOP, BAOP, and NATOOPS scores all improved from pre-intervention and nine months post-intervention; however, they did not meet the threshold for statistical significance. The SE-12 showed a statistically significant increase from baseline (M = 73.9, SE = 5.2) to post-intervention (M = 88.6, SE = 4.5, p = .045), indicating improvements in students’ self-evaluation of communication skills. Despite not achieving statistically significant improvements, NP students achieved increased self-efficacy in navigating weight-related conversations, suggesting the inclusion of WBR interventions as part of the NP curriculum.