An Explorative Study of Perceived Cultural Competency of Medical Social Workers in Korea

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the level of perceived cultural competency of medical social workers in Korea and explore factors that are related with their cultural competency. Responses from 187 medical social workers are analyzed for this study. They were asked to fill out the self-administered questionnaires. Analytic methods such as t-test, ANOVA, and multivariate regression analysis are used for this study. The results indicated that personal experiences such as working with multicultural client are related with higher level of cultural competency. Also, the knowledge of the other local agency that provides services to multicultural client has something to do with a higher level of cultural competency. Other factors are associated with each of three factors of cultural competency: Knowledge/Awareness, Skills Development and Organizational Support. Also emphasized is the important role of the supervision and education for cultural competency.