Linda S. Behar-Horenstein PhD, Xiaoying Feng BS, Barbara Lee PhD, Frank A. Catalanotto DMD, Carol A. Isaac PhD. College of Dentistry, University of Florida, ...
PO-057
Changing Students' Cultural Competency Beliefs: Evidence from Reflective Writings . Linda S. Behar-Horenstein PhD, Xiaoying Feng BS, Barbara Lee PhD, Frank A. Catalanotto DMD, Carol A. Isaac PhD College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
PURPOSE
RESULTS
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For dental students from families of privilege, their point of reference for assessing poor oral health care access is often inadequate. Countering their preexisting attitudes, beliefs and misinformation can be challenging. The purpose of this study was to determine patterns of significance in students’ reflective writings before and after conducting interviews with individuals unlike themselves.
METHODS The study, approved by IRB (U-1071) was conducted in 2014 with 92 pre-doctoral students in a Southeastern dental school, 43 (47%) male and 49 (53%) female, of whom 51 (55%) were from . under represented minority (URM) groups and 41 (45%) identified as white, non-minority. Students were assigned a two part comparative assignment. For the first assignment they wrote a paper reflecting on their personal cultural values along eight categories: race, gender, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, personal able-ness, faith, and cultural groups, as well as consider how, why, and where their values developed. For the second assignment, each student interviewed an individual who is “unlike himself or herself” along the eight aforementioned categories and write a minimum of 500 words on each assignment. Researchers comparatively analyzed both papers to determine the degree of changes in cultural attitudes and/or beliefs, and any insights students gained through the assignment using the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC) program (see Table 1). LIWC enables frequency counts of predetermined dictionaries appearing in the reflective writing text. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) identified factor structure and changes in the student’s pre-post reflections. Multiple analysis of variance determined the statistical significance of demonstrated change. Qualitative analysis using a program called NVivo identified the most frequently occurring words, which were cross-referenced with the LIWC word categories.. Seven factors explained 66.49% of the total variance (.588 to .870.). NVivo, assisted in identifying the most frequently occurring words within the text of the reflection papers. Those words were crossreferenced with the LIWC word categories.. Researchers quantitatively compared the qualitative changes detected in students’ first and second reflection papers to determine if the changes were statistically significant.
Personal-ableness and SES. Students described how the interview impacted previously held assumptions. One female URM explained that her interviewee’s story “shattered my previous assumptions about being born deaf” and made her realize that “with the right type of education system and family support, his younger years could have been easier”. Sexual orientation. This category generated the greatest amount of surprise, recognition of similarities, personal disappointment, and rejection of other’s sexual preference. One White female “found there aren’t many differences between us”. A URM female did “not agree on same sex marriage and base my opinion in the word of God…”. One White female “couldn’t imagine the fear he felt before telling” [his military family] …”. One URM male expressed, “I have to consciously and with a lot of effort try to hold back on making preliminary judgments on people no matter what sexual orientation, race, religion [is]”. Race/national origin/language. Nearly one fifth of the participants described viewpoints about other races or national origins. One White female stated, “I do tend to think of certain races (particularly African-Americans) as underachieving at times… probably derived from witnessing firsthand the personal behavior of some I have encountered in South Florida… found them to be rather obnoxious and ignorant”. Gender. White males were surprised in regards to gender differences. One discovered that, he could “see that gender difference does not change the formation of beliefs and practices”. Religion. One male URM remarked that he was unaware of the social pressures people experience when their religion is not the same as the majority of the society. A White female stated her “religion was so intertwined with my family, I always associated the two” until after the interview she realized “that this is not the case”.
CONCLUSIONS Using QUAN→qual sequential mixed methods, researchers explored the thematic content of reflective writings to better understand how “increasing opportunities for contact” impacted a process of change. § The qualitative findings showed a progression through stages of change leads to improvements in dental student’s cultural competency. This progression begins with implementing instructional activities that challenge the personal biases of dental students, while simultaneously exposing them first hand to the “lived realities” of others. § Experiential learning such as that which is described here holds the potential to instill awareness of others, foment curiosity, catalyze self-reflection, and lead to changes in cultural competency beliefs and attitudes. that may lead to fostering empathy and human compassion.
Acknowledgement HRSA Awards #D85HP20030 and #1 D86HP24477-01-00 provided support for this study.
