Date Presented 03/22/24
This survey found that OTD and DPT students understood that culture influences participation. Educators may consider use of instructional methods, such as multimedia, simulation, and guest speakers, to enhance student preparation to practice cultural humility.
Primary Author and Speaker: Elizabeth Schmidt
Contributing Authors: Ian M. Rheault
PURPOSE: Cultural humility training leads to improved patient-centered care and outcomes (Faiman & Tariman, 2019; Green et al., 2017). Yet, many students report feeling unprepared to work with diverse clients and there is no consistent recommendation for education. This research aims to describe occupational and physical therapy doctoral students (OTD; DPT) perceptions of culture on patient participation and instructor use of educational strategies before and after involvement in cultural humility courses.
DESIGN: This study utilized a descriptive research design.
METHOD: Second-year OTD and DPT students were recruited via email and class solicitation. All participants provided consent prior to accessing the survey. The included Likert-style (1=strongly disagree, 2=disagree, 3=agree, and 4=strongly agree) and open-ended questions (Murden et al., 2008). Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.
RESULTS: At time one, 28 OTD and 19 DPT students indicated they agreed culture influences occupations and participation in rehabilitation (3.43; 3.76). Students demonstrated an improvement in their overall perceived understanding after involvement in their courses (3.75; 3.84). Students disagreed that classroom learning influenced their perceived understanding at time one (2.66; 2.77), but, this increased slightly at time point two (3; 2.98). Students indicated the need for concrete learning opportunities about different cultures and desired learning from diverse individuals using multimedia.
CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate OTD and DPT students believe culture influences individual participation in occupations and rehabilitation. However, few students felt classroom learning effectively enhanced understanding. The results suggest use of instructional methods, including multimedia, simulation, and guest speakers from diverse cultural backgrounds, to enhance student preparation to practice cultural humility.
References
Faiman B, Tariman JD. (2019) Shared Decision Making: Improving Patient Outcomes by Understanding the Benefits of and Barriers to Effective Communication. Clin J Oncol Nurs. Oct 1;23(5):540–542. https://doi.org/10.1188/19.CJON.540-542
Green, A. R., Chun, M. B., Cervantes, M. C., Nudel, J. D., Duong, J. V., Krupat, E., & Betancourt, J. R. (2017). Measuring medical students’ preparedness and skills to provide cross-cultural care. Health Equity, 1(1), 15–22. https://doi.org/10.1089/heq.2016.0011
Murden, R., Norman, A., Ross, J., Sturdivant, E., Kedia, M., & Shah, S. (2008). Occupational therapy students’ perceptions of their cultural awareness and competency. Occupational therapy international, 15(3), 191–203.
