An investigation into the development of cultural responsiveness in Australian physiotherapy students and new graduates' capability to work with culturally and linguistically diverse communities

Abstract

With the increasing cultural diversity in Australia, health professionals, including physiotherapists, must be prepared to care for people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Entry-level physiotherapy educational programs are entrusted to assure the development of all competencies required of practicing new graduate physiotherapists. This therefore needs to include the capability to practice in a culturally responsive manner. The broad goal of the research program presented in this thesis was to investigate how entry-level physiotherapy programs deliver learning and teaching to support the development of cultural responsiveness in students, and to identify if gaps exist in the preparation of new graduates for working with people from CALD communities. To achieve this, four separate studies were conducted. The four studies examined different components and/or perspectives related to curricula and the development of cultural responsiveness in physiotherapy students.

Date of Award	2020
Original language	English