Cultural Competence and Cultural Humility: A Dialogue on Adopting a Multimodel Approach in Physical Therapist Education

Abstract

Background and Purpose. Integrating the concepts of cultural humility and cultural competence into physical therapy (PT) practice may reduce health care disparities and improve patient-centered care. Although several frameworks exist for teaching physical therapist students about cultural competence and cultural humility, discussion about which framework is comprehensive enough to capture the complexity of this topic is unresolved. The purpose of this position paper was to raise awareness in physical therapist and physical therapist assistant (PTA) education about existing frameworks of cultural competence and cultural humility and present a rationale for the inclusion of both in educational approaches. Position and Rationale. This article examines the concepts of cultural competence and cultural humility, explores the differences between these 2 concepts, and provides a rationale for integrating both theoretical constructs into PT and PTA education. Discussion and Conclusion. Cultural competence and cultural humility frameworks are evolving and so should faculty member approaches to teaching this content to PT students. Contemporary pedagogy requires a focused lens through which to prepare students for incorporating cultural awareness into clinical care to avoid potential cultural mismatches. Creating a new framework that synthesizes the principles of cultural competence and cultural humility may encourage more inclusivity. Cultural pedagogy has the potential to improve the patient experience and health outcomes by empowering students to provide care that is sensitive to important patient cultural differences.

The Changing Landscape of Intercultural Mindset in 616 Doctor of Physical Therapy Students Over the Past 7 Years and the Implications for Doctor of Physical Therapy Cultural Competence Education

“…e gender category showed a larger total participation of female persons compared with male persons and nonbinary persons. No difference between gender representation was observed across cohorts (x 2 = 11.29 [14], P = .66). Cohort demographics are reported in Table 2 for the 8 cohorts.…”

“…10 The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) expanded this model to inform physical therapy academic institutions on how to teach cultural competence. 13 Bangs et al 14 suggested the concept of cultural humility be added to the APTA-adopted cultural competence framework. Cultural humility is a lifelong commitment to self-awareness and learning of one's own and other's cultures in order to dismantle power imbalances and build collaborative partnerships to benefit the health of individuals and communities.…”

Cultural humility and cultural competence in counseling: An exploratory mixed methods investigation

“…An example may be a clinical supervisor collaboratively helping their supervisee identify incidents of microaggression, while engaging in authentic self-disclosure around the supervisor's own experience with rupture repairs with culturally different clients. Relatedly, counselor educators and supervisors may benefit from incorporating cultural frameworks that have been developed in allied fields (c.f., Bangs et al, 2022). Holding promise is the expansion of cultural andragogy that includes aspects of both cultural safety and cultural dexterity (Smith et al, 2022).…”

A multisite cross-sectional study of intercultural competencies in doctor of physical therapy students

“…patient-healthcare provider) such that the provider is not solely the receiver of information, but is also cognizant of the power dynamics and impact of their own culture on the encounter [ 11 ]. Self-awareness of personal biases is critical for developing this collaborative dialog [ 6 , 12 ]. Cultural humility allows one to engage in an egoless manner and can result in culturally sensitive and empathetic communication [ 6 , 12 ].…”

“…Self-awareness of personal biases is critical for developing this collaborative dialog [ 6 , 12 ]. Cultural humility allows one to engage in an egoless manner and can result in culturally sensitive and empathetic communication [ 6 , 12 ]. Cultural awareness, sensitivity and humility do not necessarily occur in a hierarchical order, but interact and contribute to the development of ICC [ 10 , 13 ].…”