OT 425 Cultural Competence in OT

Culture can be defined as the language, values, traditions, and behaviors held by a group. It is important to consider the connection to values, beliefs, and spirituality in a culture. The culture of OT has changed over time from focused on arts & crafts to the medical model to becoming more holistic. The culture of OT today is holistic, client-centered, empathetic, and occupation-centered. We as occupational therapists can learn culture through observation, practice, continuing education, and fieldwork. Cultural competence is being able to interact with people from all different kinds of backgrounds and strive for a common goal. Language describing cross-cultural practice has changed over time. In the early to mid-1900s, the term most commonly used was cultural tolerance; this term gives off an air of superiority. The term cultural tolerance was then changed to cultural sensitivity, which came off as: "My culture is better than yours, but I'll still be sensitive to yours." Cultural competence started to be used in the mid-1980's in healthcare literature, especially in nursing, social work, and psychology. The term competence is a call for action for movement towards learning about culture and not just being sensitive about it. As occupational therapists, it is important that we look at the bigger picture and widen our scope when it comes to culture. As and OT student/practitioner, I can develop my cultural competence by recognizing my own biases, self-reflection, and exposing myself to different people.