ROTOS Webinar: Transforming collaborative care.

Rieke van DijK -Hengelaar will share with us her doctoral research with an intersectional perspective regardign diversity among the collaboration of healthcare professionals and carers of people with acquired brain injury and a migration background. Some key findings that will be presented during the webinar: -Difficulties in collaboration are often attributed by professionals to the “other” [...]This reveals a harmful power dynamic in the form of a process of othering. Carers identify othering as the primary factor leading to miscommunication and conflict. -Because carers and care recipients with a migration background often do not fit standard categories or procedures, they can become (unintentionally) invisible, causing their needs to be overlooked or misinterpreted. The dominant norm creates a blind spot. -These unequal situations are exacerbated when carers are not taken seriously and their negative experiences are minimized or dismissed. This reflects a form of epistemic injustice. -An intersectional perspective can help professionals and policymakers recognize and challenge their own (unconscious) assumptions. In doing so, they can embrace both the differences and the similarities among clients and caregivers with a migration background. -Inclusive collaboration requires all actors within care networks to engage in ongoing critical reflection on their own social positions. This process calls for dialogue to foster mutual understanding among clients, caregivers, and professionals and to create space for multiple perspectives and truths.