Level of cultural awareness and competency among occupational therapy students: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Bangladesh is a unique example of a multicultural country where along with the 98% Bengali population, there are at least 45 small ethnic groups who possess different cultures. People from different cultures may have different concepts of disease, and illness, and this directs people’s choice of treatment. Civilized culture may explain disease as a physiological dysfunction and seeks help from a doctor. At the same time, others believe that illness or disability is punishment by God or reason of witchcraft and may seek help from an herbalist, an acupuncturist, a homeopath, a spiritual healer, or a palmist. Therefore, therapists must be culturally sensitive to recognizing patients' cultural backgrounds and their interpretations of illnesses. To be a culturally competent therapist, cultural awareness and competency are needed to address essential skills for occupational therapy students in Bangladesh. Aim: The study aims to identify the level of cultural awareness and competency among occupational therapy students and their understanding regarding exposure to cultural awareness and competency in occupational therapy practice. Method: It is a quantitative, cross-sectional study. The population was taken by purposive sampling. The study is conducted on 124 occupational therapy undergraduate students at Bangladesh Health Professions Institute (BHPI). A self-administered Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity Questionnaire (CASQ) modified from Cheung et al. (2002) was used. For analysis, Mann Whitney U test, and Kruskal Wallis test was done. Result: The study findings presented that most students have admitted that cultural aspect has influenced occupational therapy services and cultural factors are included in education xiii and fieldwork experiences. Students enlightened the need for increasing the methods of gaining cultural competency throughout the undergraduate course. There was a significant association according to the educational level of students in exposure to cultural aspects in classroom education and fieldwork experience. Conclusion: The study enlightened that experience and education increase cultural competence. There is a critical requirement to include methods of gaining cultural competency aspects within the curriculum. So, students can gain essential skills required to work in a diverse cultural society. It did not explain the way of developing cultural competence.