Clinical Ethics

Funded by the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation, the Prince of Wales Hospital Ethics Committee engaged Inky Smudge in the production of three complex eSimulation scenarios on the subjects of Consent, End of Life, and Risks to the Fetus. eSimulation is the term coined for this kind of elearning tool developed by the Mental Health Liaison team at the hospital. An eSimulation creates a de-identified story from real-life experience, revealed in stages, that quizzes viewers at different points and which works to reveal likely misconceptions or even prejudices that may be present. As the viewer discovers these misconceptions for themselves, the lesson is much stronger than simply being told that they exist.

Several years in the making these eSimulations use a visually dynamic, animated photographic storyboard technique to tell their stories, assisting the viewer to strongly identify with the participants within the narrative and thereby invest in their outcomes.
In addition at various points within each narrative experts provide extensive experienced commentary on the aspect being discussed which assists the viewer to think more broadly about the subject. The idea is not so much to provide clear Yes/No answers to questions but to increase the broader knowledge that clinicians may have about a complex subject and to allow them to work towards more creative solutions as they encounter similar scenarios in their working life.

Once again interactivity is an additional key element of learning with animated sorting boxes, ordering lists, Q&A etc being utilised to quiz the knowledge of participants as the progress through the eSimulation.

Inky Smudge worked at length with the Ethics team to adapt their narratives to a form that could be presented in a web-based form. All custom graphics and storyboarding photography was created by the team, along with video material in which experts are asked their opinion on certain complex subjects. Bespoke interactivity was developed in-house and rigorously tested before launch.