Key competencies in multicultural education for entry-level therapeutic recreation professionals.

摘要

As the United States becomes more culturally diverse, it will be increasingly important for therapeutic recreation (TR) professionals to understand the critical role that culture plays in the lives of their clients. The TR profession has begun to address this issue but to date, there has been no organized attempt to develop multicultural competencies for use in TR education.;Forty-five key competencies specific to therapeutic recreation were identified and rated on a five-point Likert scale by the panel of experts. These competencies were evaluated utilizing measures of central tendency and dispersion. The experts came to consensus on 44 of the 45 competencies evaluated. The 44 competencies were then placed into a framework that can be utilized to integrate multicultural education into the therapeutic recreation curricula.;The Delphi technique was chosen as the most appropriate for this study and the method of administration chosen was via an Internet web site. A panel of experts was comprised of therapeutic recreation professionals who were selected based on their professional publications and presentations addressing the role of multicultural education in therapeutic recreation. A modified Delphi was implemented utilizing competencies identified from the kindred professions of counseling, nursing, and social work.