Shoshana Helfenbaum
CombiningĀ compassion and evidence-based practice
As an Interprofessional Educator leading special projects for the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care at Baycrest, Shoshana Helfenbaum develops and delivers innovative curricula that advance relational care and leadership in healthcare.
Her work integrates mindfulness, simulation and game-based learning, relational education, and Appreciative Inquiry to support knowledge mobilization and sustainable change within interprofessional teams.
With 30 years of experience across community, hospital, and long-term care settings, Shoshana has served as a geriatric social worker, educator, coach, psychotherapist, gerontologist, clinical simulationist, subject matter expert, and instructional designer.
Gamified Problem-Based Learning in Compassion-Based Gameworlds
This session explores how emerging AI tools and compassionate design can be combined to create online learning experiences that feel human, purposeful, and engaging. Participants will see how problem-based learning scenarios can be generated and refined using AI prompts, not to automate thinking, but to deepen it. The session also examines how compassion research can inform the design of game worlds that support empathy, care, and ethical decision-making rather than competition for its own sake.
Participants will explore what it takes to design virtual characters that feel alive and relational, characters learners respond to as more than placeholders or scripts. The focus is on practical design choices that bring warmth, energy, and humanity into digital learning environments, even when the delivery is fully online.
Takeaway: AI can scale learning, but compassion is what makes it meaningful.
