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Educator Perspectives on Indigenous Cultural Content in an Occupational Therapy Curriculum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2016

Belinda Melchert ,
Marion Gray  and
Adrian Miller
Belinda Melchert
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, College of Healthcare Sciences, James Cook University, QLD 4811, Australia
Marion Gray*
Affiliation:
School of Health and Sport Science, Health and Sport Centre, Faculty of Science, Health and Education, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4558, Australia
Adrian Miller
Affiliation:
Indigenous Research Unit, Nathan Campus, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Marion Gray, School of Health and Sport Science, Health and Sport Centre, Faculty of Science, Health and Education, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD 4558, Australia. Email: mgray1@usc.edu.au.
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Abstract

Health professionals must understand Indigenous perspectives to deliver effective health services. This study set out to determine the amount, type and effectiveness of current Indigenous content in an occupational therapy curriculum at an Australian regional university and the progress in meeting the National Aboriginal Health Strategy (NAHS) minimum standards for Indigenous content for Australian Universities. Twenty-one academic staff teaching at an Australian University were surveyed with five follow-up interviews. Findings suggest that while educators saw the importance of Indigenous cultural content, they lacked confidence in delivering this content. The need for a strategic and planned approach to embedding Indigenous content throughout the curriculum was identified. Future research evaluating the effectiveness of cultural competency initiatives is suggested.

Keywords

Indigenouscultural competencecurriculumoccupational therapy
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , August 2016 , pp. 100 - 109
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016 

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