Cultural Competency in Rehabilitation Counseling and Other Health Professions

AbstractInternational immersion experiences for health-care students have increased over the past 10 years. Students and faculty expect these experiences to increase cultural competency; however, research on outcomes of these programs has lacked rigor. Over a 4-year period, groups of nursing and other health professions students spent 3 weeks in Peru providing primary care and health education. Students attended pre-departure seminars addressing personal travel health and safety, culture and health care in Peru, working with interpreters, and ethics of international health care. Student participants (N = 77) completed an instrument assessing self-perceived cultural competency before and after the experience. Results of pre- and post-immersion scores showed significant increases in perceived cultural competency and increased self-efficacy in cultural knowledge, skills, and attitudes for four groups of students. Implications and future directions are discussed and recommended.

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Surveys of Cultural Competency in Health Professional Education: A literature review

Australasian Journal of Paramedicine ◽

10.33151/ajp.6.2.453 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Caroline Spencer ◽

Rhona Macdonald ◽

Frank Archer

Keyword(s):

Literature Review ◽

Health Professional ◽

Cultural Competency ◽

Professional Education ◽

Survey Methods ◽

Health Professions ◽

Specific Information ◽

Health Professional Education ◽

Research Papers ◽

Paramedic Education

A literature review, in advance of designing a survey of cultural competency in Australian and New Zealand paramedic education courses, provides the focus of this paper. The review sought to explore the extent to which other health professions include cultural competency in their undergraduate curriculum. The literature review identified specific research papers that used survey methods to determine the status of cultural competency training in other health professions. With no paramedic specific information available to inform paramedic education, these research papers formed a basis for designing a survey that would examine the extent to which paramedic education includes cultural competency in its curricula. This paper is timely for informing paramedic education about surveys on cultural competency in health professional education. It is particularly timely for the paramedic profession, which is currently in transition from a vocationally based occupation to a professionally based discipline within a university setting; and, at a time when a small number of student paramedics are opting to take advantage of an Honours degree. Similarly, experienced paramedics are undertaking Masters and Doctoral research programs in prehospital and paramedic related issues. Such opportunities enable paramedics to extend their career prospects into academic research, an opportunity that was previously untenable. The process of reviewing the literature to develop a paramedic specific survey provides useful information for paramedics who may want to undertake similar research projects to examine other aspects of the curriculum. This paper, therefore, contributes to both developing an appreciation of the complex issues which arise from this process, and establishes an evidence base foundation for the paramedic discipline as it emerges within an academic and research orientated environment. The lessons learned in reviewing surveys might be useful for other health professions and emergency service researchers.

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Culturally competent library services and related factors among health sciences librarians: an exploratory study

Journal of the Medical Library Association JMLA ◽

10.5195/jmla.2017.203 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 105 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Misa Mi, PhD, MLIS, AHIP ◽

Yingting Zhang, MLS, AHIP

Keyword(s):

Patient Care ◽

Cultural Competency ◽

Health Professions ◽

Health Sciences ◽

Health Professions Education ◽

Library Services ◽

Culturally Competent ◽

Related Factors ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Wide Range

Objective: This study investigated the current state of health sciences libraries’ provision of culturally competent services to support health professions education and patient care and examined factors associated with cultural competency in relation to library services and professional development.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Data were collected with a survey questionnaire that was distributed via SurveyMonkey to several health sciences librarian email discussion lists.Results: Out of 176 respondents, 163 reported serving clients from diverse cultural backgrounds. Various services were provided to develop or support initiatives in cultural competency in health professions education and patient care. A considerable number of respondents were unsure or reported no library services to support initiatives in cultural competency, although a majority of respondents perceived the importance of providing culturally competent library services (156, 89.1%) and cultural competency for health sciences librarians (162, 93.1%). Those who self-identified as nonwhites perceived culturally competent services to be more important than whites (p=0.04). Those who spoke another language in addition to English had higher self-rated cultural competency (p=0.01) than those who only spoke English.Conclusions: These findings contribute to our knowledge of the types of library services provided to support cultural competency initiatives and of health sciences librarians’ perceived importance in providing culturally competent library services and cultural competency for health sciences librarians. The results suggest implications for health sciences libraries in fostering professional development in cultural competency and in providing culturally competent services to increase library use by people from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds.

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Designing a questionnaire to review cultural competency in Australian and New Zealand paramedic courses

Australasian Journal of Paramedicine ◽

10.33151/ajp.7.4.188 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Caroline Spencer ◽

Rhona Macdonald ◽

Frank Archer

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Cultural Competency ◽

Design Process ◽

Academic Discipline ◽

Health Professions ◽

Research Practice ◽

Research Outcome ◽

Paramedic Education ◽

Education Courses ◽

Curriculum Topics

Designing a questionnaire to review cultural competency in Australian and New Zealand paramedic education courses provides the focus of this paper. The paper emerged from a larger research project, which sought to explore the extent to which health professions include cultural competency in their curricula. The purpose of designing a questionnaire was to review Australian and New Zealand paramedic education courses to discover the presence and coverage of cultural competency in the paramedic curriculum. To the best of our knowledge, no current research explores this theme. The absence of such research provided an opportunity to rectify this gap and contribute to the development of the paramedic curriculum, particularly with the proliferation of cultural competency courses in other health professions. This research makes an important contribution to the new academic discipline of paramedic research. The methods used for designing a questionnaire utilised three statements and guidelines on research practice, in addition to a literature review that informed the design process. The research outcome is a paramedic specific questionnaire based on a carefully constructed design process which education researchers could use or adapt to their needs for exploring other curriculum topics.>

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Navigating the Unique Landscape of Clients Who Identify as LGBTQ+ in Vocational Rehabilitation: A Social Justice Primer

Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling ◽

10.1891/jarc-d-20-00022 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 51 (4) ◽

pp. 304-322

Author(s):

Robert L. Stevens ◽

Erica L. Wondolowski ◽

Gregory A. Wilson

Keyword(s):

Professional Development ◽

Social Justice ◽

Rehabilitation Counseling ◽

Health Professions ◽

Rehabilitation Counselors ◽

Rehabilitation Counselor ◽

Allied Health Professions ◽

The Social ◽

Intersecting Identities ◽

The Many

Clients who identify as both a person with a disability and a member of the LGBTQ+ community (LGBTQxPWD) present with their own unique worldviews and subsequent needs when seeking Rehabilitation Counseling. It remains the ethical and professional responsibility of the Rehabilitation Counselor to engage in practices which not only further their understanding of the sociopolitical and individual environments which impact these clients, but also to engage in ongoing personal and professional development to ensure that the ethical principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence, as well as the charge to cultural competence, are upheld. In the fall of 2019, the National Rehabilitation Counseling Association held a symposium on social justice concerns in the field of Rehabilitation Counseling. There, the need for an LGBTQ+ repository was identified. This resource would allow for Rehabilitation Counselors/educators to obtain information pertaining to the needs of the LGBTQ+ community and the many other intersecting identities that may also present by a given client. The aim of this article is to examine existing research pertaining to those who identify as LGBTQxPWD, identify gaps in the literature regarding needs of the LGBTQ+ and Disability communities, respectively, and to propose action steps where those in the field of Rehabilitation Counseling and other allied health professions can aid in furthering the social justice movement of this group.

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