Cultural competence among occu-pational therapy students at the University of the Free State, South Africa

Abstract

The study investigates occupational therapy students’ perceptions about cultural competence and assessed their levels of competence to determine whether the undergraduate occupational therapy curriculum at the University of the Free State sufficiently equips students to become culturally competent professionals. A descriptive study was undertaken, using a non-standardised questionnaire. Students did not feel sufficiently equipped regarding cultural competence, and their levels of competence ranged between cultural incapacity and pre-competence. The results support students’ perceptions that the current occupational therapy curriculum at the University of the Free State does not sufficiently equip them to become culturally competent.