Evaluation of occupational therapy students perceptions and experiences with multicultural practice and cultural awareness.

1. Students Perceptions of Cultural Awareness in Occupational Therapy Education
Contemporary health care in the UK takes place in increasingly diverse and multicultural
environments and occupational therapists are likely to encounter and work with individuals from a
multitude of backgrounds. Issues of culture are widely regarded as relevant for occupational therapy
(OT) practice and education (cf. Chiang & Carlson, 2003; Castro et al., 2014). No unified definition
of culture exits, but it can be described as “a system of learned patterns of behaviour … shared by
members of a group … providing the individual and the group with effective mechanisms for
interacting both with others and with the surrounding environment” (Krefting, 1991, in Chiang &
Carlson, 2003, p. 559). One of the key features of culture is an, often subconscious, understanding
and reliance on shared cultural cues and variables. Without direct experiences of cultural dislocation
often encountered by immigrants or ethnic minorities, OTs can be ignorant of the ways their cultural
cues differs from and affects their patients and colleagues (Chiang & Carlson, 2003). In addition,
like any other profession OT holds some basic, and to an extent Eurocentric, assumption that are
rarely questions or challenged (Townsend & Polatajko, 2007). However, to fulfil OTs aim for client
centred and holistic practice, cultural differences, assumptions and power hierarchies inherent in
these, have to be open to debate. Therefore, and cognisant of the philosophical basis of OT, this
research aims to explore the importance of culture in current OT education, beyond the rhetorical
status assigned to it in theoretical models of practice and the current HCPC (2013) Standard of
Proficiency for Occupational Therapists. The specific research methodology is a phenomenological
case study (Henry et al., 2008) aiming to learn about individuals’ experiences and how these
experiences are translated into social actions and interactions. Utilising semi-structured interviews
and focus groups with current OT students, the research evaluates how participants experience and
make sense of culture and multiculturalism in their education and practice.

2. References
Castro, D., Dahlin-Ivanoff, S. & Martenssons, L. 2014. ‘Occupational therapy and culture: a
literature review’. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy. 21: 401-414.
Chiang, M. & Carlson, G. 2003. ‘Occupational therapy in multicultural contexts: issues and
strategies’. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66(12): 559-567.
HCPC. 2013. Standards of Proficiency: Occupational Therapists. London: HCPC.
Henry, A., Casserly, A., Coady, M. & Marshall, H. 2008. A phenomenological case study exploring
different perspectives on inclusion within one post-primary school in the North West of Ireland.
Sligo: College of National University of Ireland (NUIG).
Townsend, E. & Polatajko, H. 2007. Enabling Occupation II: Advancing an Occupational Therapy
Vision for Health, Well-being & Justice through Occupation. Ottawa: CAOT Publications ACE.