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

Abstract

Introduction: This prospective longitudinal study will report the results of a quantitative analysis of the change in Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) scores and the distribution of students in 5 orientations along the Intercultural Developmental Continuum (IDC) in 8 cohorts of Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students during their academic preparation.

Review of literature: The expanding interest in developing intercultural sensitivity in an increasingly more complex and diverse health care environment calls for the dissemination of research on the effectiveness of innovative curricular models that include psychometrically strong outcome measures. Research suggests that health care providers can develop intercultural sensitivity when provided with didactic knowledge, experiential learning, self-reflection, mentoring, and a systematic individualized development plan.

Subjects: The participants were from a sample of convenience of 616 DPT students from the graduating classes of 2015-2022.

Methods: The study is a repeated-measure design. The IDI was selected to guide targeted intervention and assessment of intercultural sensitivity at an individual level and group level and was administered in semesters 3 and 8 as part of the DPT program course requirements.

Results: There was significant improvement in the IDI Perceived and Developmental Orientation (DO; P < .001) scores between semesters 3 and 8. There was a significant change (P = .0001) in the distribution of students along the 5 DOs of the IDC with 10% of students regressing 1 orientation, 51.7% of students remaining the same, 33.3% of students advancing 1 orientation, and 5% of students advancing 2 orientations along the IDC. Nearly 40% of participants had a positive shift along the IDC.

Discussion and conclusion: The results of this study suggest that intercultural sensitivity or mindset, as measured by the IDI, can be developed in DPT students who participate in a targeted intercultural development curriculum based on the Process Model of Cultural Competence by Deardorff and the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity by Bennett.