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Although there is a growing familiarity with the concept of 'culture,' there are inconsistencies in its definition and use. Furthermore, culture has become a ready, but not necessarily accurate, explanation for many problems in health care settings. We suggest that one reason the attention to culture has not had a greater impact on the quality of health care is because many have an inadequate understanding of the concept. This paper presents an analysis of 86 occupational therapists' and 20 physiotherapists' definitions. It explores how practicing therapists define and articulate the concept, and it compares their definitions with those from health science students discussed in an earlier paper published in this journal. Our analyses suggest that although both groups tend to use a materialist definition, there are differences in their understandings of culture. We considered three potential explanations: methodological; differences in the occupational roles of students and therapists; and historical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts of culture and cultural issues have become a focus for the delivery of health care services in multicultural societies. While much attention has been directed towards explorations of cultural issues in health care contexts, few studies have explored understandings of the concept of culture. In this paper, we explore definitions of culture offered by a group of 715 occupational therapy, diversional therapy, and physiotherapy students in Australia. A simple content analysis of the definitions suggests that student health professionals tend to use a totalist or materialist view of culture and often confound the concept of culture with race and ethnicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]