A pilot study to assess the impact of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural humility webinars on Australian medical school students

Abstract

Abstract Background The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Curriculum Framework has provided evidence-based support to higher education providers to deliver safe and well-informed cultural humility education. However, there is currently a scarcity of evidence surrounding the efficacy and impact of cultural humility education. This study will contribute to a quality evidence base assessing the impact of cultural humility and responsiveness interventions on Australian medical students. Methods A pilot study was conducted following a group of Australian medical students who attended an educational Indigenous health (IH) culturally responsive webinar. Recruitment was conducted via the webinar hosts’ social media pages. One pre-webinar and two post-webinar questionnaires were sent to attendees. To assess participants’ retention of information one post-webinar survey was sent out immediately after the webinar and another three months after the webinar. These questionnaires were designed to reflect pre-determined learning objectives for the webinar. A focus group was selected from the pool of participants for a qualitative analysis of the webinar’s impact. Results Twenty-six participants were included in the final analysis. Most of the participants were clinical students between 18–24 years old who did not identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. There was an insignificant increase (p = 0.196) in mean participant total score from pre-intervention (M = 0.45, SD = 0.11) to the immediate post-intervention score (M = 0.48, SD = 0.13). However, stratification based on learning outcomes showed some improvement between pre- and immediate post-webinar knowledge for one learning outcome exploring the links between health and education. Conclusions There was a significant increase in knowledge and understanding for the learning outcome that explored the links between health and education. We attribute this partly to the engaging and conversational delivery style of the webinar presenters. The importance of facilitators that encourage reflective teaching should not be understated. Our results highlight the unequivocal potential that cultural humility webinars can have on medical students’ understanding of the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander health landscape. This pilot study warrants further research on a larger population.