Perceived Cultural Competence Levels in Undergraduate Athletic Training Students

Abstract

Context: As the patient population continues to diversify, it is essential that athletic training students (ATSs) are educated to provide culturally competent care. This high-quality health care within the context of a patient's race, ethnicity, language, religious beliefs, or behaviors is a foundation of professional practice.Objective: Determine undergraduate ATSs' levels of cultural competence and their variability by gender, race, and year in school.Design: Cross-sectional design.Setting: Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education-accredited undergraduate athletic training programs.Patients or Other Participants: ATSs enrolled in their programs' professional-education phase (N ¼ 421), of which 366 were Caucasian and 55 were students of color.Intervention: Students completed a 20-question online Likert survey using Qualtrics. Items were based on prior research and a nursing measurement tool, rated on a 1 to 4 scale (from strongly disagree to strongly agree, respectively; maximum score of 80), and found to be reliable (Cronbach a ¼ 0.721). Main Outcome Measurements:Overall cultural competence score, means, and standard deviations were calculated for all students by gender, race/ethnicity, and year. One-way analyses of variance also compared each category.Results: Higher scores on the research tool demonstrate higher levels of cultural competence. There were no significant differences found between gender and year in school. Students of color showed higher overall cultural competence scores than Caucasians (F 1,420 ¼ 29.509, P , .01). The mean overall cultural competence score was 58.36 6 5.26.Conclusions: Students of color demonstrated higher levels of cultural competence, which is possibly because of their personal history and experiences. The current study demonstrates that athletic training programs must seek to better educate students on providing culturally competent care.

A Cross Sectional and Longitudinal Study of Pharmacy Student Perceptions of Readiness to Serve Diverse Populations

“…It is unknown how findings translate in the ability to provide culturally appropriate, high-quality care to diverse patient groups (eg, racial/ethnic, linguistic, religious, sexual orientation, cultural). 57 Such considerations are added to our recommendations for future research.…”

Increasing Cultural Competence: Implementation of Study Away/Abroad in an Athletic Training Program

“…The most consistent and perhaps the most significant factor that influences CC is an individual's minority background. 9,10,13 Athletic training students and ATs of color 9,10 exhibit a significantly higher level of CC compared with whites. 13 Likewise, non-US country of origin and the ability to speak 2 or more languages have also been recognized as major characteristics contributing to greater CC.…”

“…8 Literature suggests that athletic training students and ATs lack an ability to transition cultural competence (CC) from didactic education into practice. 9,10 Despite efforts to nurture culturally competent ATs, limited evidence exists that current practice is effective. The outcomes of current didactic CC education and transition to clinical practice are not encouraging.…”

“…The outcomes of current didactic CC education and transition to clinical practice are not encouraging. [9][10][11] Both athletic training students 7 and certified ATs 10 tend to perceive they possess a high level of CC, although actual ability to deliver culturally competent care remains lower than self-perception. Athletic training students and ATs indicate they understand that cultural differences exists (culturally aware), but do not apply the awareness through behaviors (culturally proficient or competent).…”

“…Athletic training students and ATs indicate they understand that cultural differences exists (culturally aware), but do not apply the awareness through behaviors (culturally proficient or competent). 9,10 For the past 16 years, CC has become increasingly integrated into the athletic training didactic curriculum, yet application of knowledge into professional practice is lagging. 8,12 A change from a traditional didactic learning of CC to impactful learning experiences is necessary to improve the transition of experiences to clinical practice, 9,10,[13][14][15] and therefore expanded clinical experience integration in athletic training educational curriculum is suggested.…”