Internationalization at Home: An Occupational Therapy Synchronous Collaboration Between Cyprus and the United States.

IMPORTANCE

Designing, implementing, and measuring the effectiveness of sustainable Internationalization at Home programs will support the development of cultural competence among occupational therapy students.

OBJECTIVE

To explore potential sustainable, effective methods for enhancing cultural competence in occupational therapy students through cross-cultural online collaborations.

DESIGN

Pretest-posttest, parallel mixed-methods design.

SETTING

An online collaboration using video conferencing technology and classrooms at the European University Cyprus and the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences.

PARTICIPANTS

Bachelor of science and master of occupational therapy students at the European University Cyprus and the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, respectively.

INTERVENTION

Online video conferencing collaboration between occupational therapy students in which students discussed their perspectives and experiences regarding social injustice and occupational therapy's role in working with vulnerable populations.

OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Each campus participated in focus groups, and students completed individual reflections. Themes were derived from the qualitative information gathered. Quantitative data were collected using the Cultural Awareness Scale for Occupational Therapy Students (CASOTS).

RESULTS

CASOTS did not reflect changes in cultural awareness. The qualitative measures identified students' desire to participate in more frequent and culturally diverse experiences. Challenges included length of preparation and actual communication time. Inclusion of prior asynchronous sessions and methods to overcome the language barrier was suggested for future implementation.

CONCLUSION

Synchronous cross-cultural collaborations may enhance occupational therapy student's cultural awareness and may be more attractive than traditional in-class teaching. Further development is necessary to overcome challenges.

WHAT THIS ARTICLE ADDS

Documenting the benefits and barriers of implementing Internationalization at Home experiences will allow academic institutions to create sustainable methods for enhancing occupational therapy students' cultural competence. Recommendations to further enhance Internationalization at Home experiences provide opportunities for increased cultural collaboration.