Document Type (Journals)
Original Research
Abstract
The lack of racial diversity in the occupational therapy profession as well as its educational programs are obstacles in providing culturally responsive care to serve all people, populations, and communities. Research has shown that student engagement in case studies, activities that emphasize exposure to diverse populations, reflective journaling, and interviewing someone from a different culture are effective in developing practitioners who are more culturally responsive. Students from one culturally diverse occupational therapy program took a nine-hour Social and Cultural Concepts Module (SCCM) that incorporated best practice pedagogy for teaching cultural responsiveness. A one group pretest-posttest design was utilized to explore how well-prepared the students believed they were to meet the needs of diverse communities following the module. Data was collected from 35 entry-level doctor of occupational therapy students from four major race/ethnicities using the Interprofessional Education Health Disparities Series Survey (IPE-HDSS). Of the 30 items measured, 22 items showed a significant positive difference from the pretest to the posttest. Results demonstrated a change in the students’ self-reported knowledge of culturally responsive care following classroom instruction. This study provides insight into the need for culturally responsive curriculum to be integral to occupational therapy education.
Biography
Elizabeth Ching, OTD, M.Ed., OTR/L is a third generation Korean Chinese American born in Vallejo, California and has been an occupational therapist since 1985. She has presented at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE) about reducing health disparities and mentoring youth of color to enter the health professions.
Elsa Contreras is Mexican-Salvadorian-American born and is a second-year OTD student at Samuel Merritt University.
Precious Dimalanta is a first-generation Filipino-American and is a second- year OTD student at Samuel Merritt University.
Linda Duran is a second generation Mexican-American and is a second-year OTD student at Samuel Merritt University.
Robert Freeman is a second-year OTD student at Samuel Merritt University.
Ursula Hawe is a Mexican-American and is a second-year OTD student at Samuel Merritt University.
Susannah Hong is a second generation Korean American and is a second-year OTD student at Samuel Merritt University.
Wilton Ramos was born in the Philippines and is a second-year OTD student at Samuel Merritt University.
Declaration of Interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Recommended Citation
Ching, E., Contreras, E., Dimalanta, P., Duran, L., Freeman, R., Hawe, U., Hong, S., & Ramos, W. (2019). Social and Cultural Concepts Module: Curricula to Foster Cultural Responsiveness. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 3 (3). https://doi.org/10.26681/jote.2019.030304
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