OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTER-CULTURAL AWARENESS INTHE EDUCATION OF DENTAL HYGIENISTS

Professional standards require that dental hygienists deliver culturally appropriate services and demonstrate respect for patients whose cultural beliefs and values may conflict with normative clinical recommendations.The present study provided a snapshot of undergraduate students in one dental hygiene education program about the students' Intercultural competence (ICC): "the capability to understand and adapt behavior to cultural differences and commonality accurately."Rather than a longitudinal study of a student cohort, investigators sought to understand if program outcomes were congruent with the stated visions and missions of the university, co llege, and department.The participants completed an Informed Consent before taking the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) (version 3) online during regularly assigned class periods.The Internal Review Board for Research with human subjects approved using previously collected data for this report (IRB log #1137599).As a course and program assessment, the 50-question inventory generated individual and group profile reports about Orientation to cultural differences.Data were de-identified and analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics (version 1.0.0.1406).The scores of interest for this investigation included Perceived Orientation (PO), how the individual or group rates their Orientation toward other cultures, and the Developmental Orientation (DO), an individual's or group's primary orientation toward cultural differences and commonalities.In addition, the researchers examined group mean scores to evaluate any observed significant differences in ICC.The IDI assessment results indicated that students saw culture from their viewpoints at all steps in the dental hygiene education program and tended to minimize cultural differences and focus on similarities.However, group members were not adapting their behavior to accommodate cultural differences.The authors make several recommendations for dental hygiene education programs and future research.