439 Constructions of culture in research on school health professionals – a scoping review

Abstract PTH 8: Miscellaneous 1, B304 (FCSH), September 5, 2025, 11:30 - 12:30 Culture underpins social interaction between health professionals and children. It is particularly emphasized in encounters between health professionals and migrant children and often described as a potential challenge or barrier in previous research. Still, how culture is conceptualized and understood in research including school health professionals is yet to be explored. This review aimed to identify, describe and analyze existing research on school health professionals’ (i.e., school nurses, school social workers, school doctors and school psychologists) understanding of culture. A scoping review of peer-reviewed and published scientific articles between 2013 and 2024 on school health professionals’ understanding of culture was conducted. Searches were conducted in Scopus, PubMed, Cinahl Plus, SocIndex, Sociological Abstracts, Social Services Abstracts, APA PsycInfo, APA PsycArticles, Web of Science Core Collection and Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts - ASSIA. Two reviewers independently screened the article titles, abstracts and full texts for inclusion. Extracted data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. A total of 23 articles were included in the review. Findings show that most articles focused on school psychologists and school nurses and were conducted in the US and Nordic-Baltic area. In addition, most articles were conducted using a cross-sectional survey design, where the professionals’ self-understanding in relation to culture was self-assessed using validated instruments. Although a quantitative design was applied in most of the articles, only about 50 percent of the articles included a theoretical conceptualization of culture. The articles that focused on intercultural interaction between the professionals and the children mainly raised concerns about barriers and hindrances to the encounters and the challenges of encountering ‘diverse’ children. In conclusion, more research on SHS professionals’ practice and self-understanding and research using a qualitative methods and with a clearer theoretical stance regarding culture is needed.