Caring ethics as the foundation for cultural competence: views of health professionals working in student healthcare context

Background Cultural competence is recognised as a leading component in the delivery of high-quality health care. However, a lack of concept clarity has led to lower quality and less effective healthcare provision for culturally diverse groups. Understanding of cultural competence in a healthcare context will be improved through the exploration of health professionals' perceptions of the matter. Aim The aim of this study was to explore health professionals' perceptions of cultural competence in a student healthcare context. Methodology The material consists of texts from interviews with ten health professionals in a student healthcare context. A hermeneutical approach was used, and the method was inspired by content analysis. Findings One main theme and four subthemes were seen. The main theme was 'Caring ethics as the foundation for enabling cultural competence', and the subthemes were 'Cultural competence as knowledge and acting accordingly with open-mindedness and respect', 'Cultural competence as being willing to understand and learn through a process', 'cultural competence as responsiveness and adaptability' and 'Cultural competence as humility and discretion'. Conclusion Ethics can be considered a core component of cultural competence in student healthcare. In further research, a focus should be placed on cultural competence as perceived from other (e.g. students') perspectives.