Experiences of eisadvantage and privilege of care recipients witha migration background in acquired brain injury rehabilitation: an intersectional analysis

Abstract

Health inequities exist between care recipients with or without a migration background, but there is insufcient knowledge aboutthe mechanisms that lead to the reproduction of health inequities. Tis article aims to contribute to the understanding of howdiversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) shape the experiences of care recipients with a disability and migration background incollaborative care networks, through an intersectional lens. A participatory study was conducted with professionals, carers, andcare recipients with acquired brain injury (ABI) in nine community of practice (CoP) meetings. Te study is part of a larger studyand was guided by a hermeneutic framework focusing on reciprocal learning in the CoP through cocreative refection andintersectional analysis of data. Te experiences of nine care recipients with ABI and a migration background, collected in openinterviews, were central to the analysis. Analysis was further substantiated by analyzing the stories of 21 carers with a migrationbackground and 17 professionals, collected in semistructured interviews. An intersectionality lens was applied to understand thepower dynamics in the experiences as expressed in the interviews and stories. Using vignettes of care recipients’ experiences, wepresent the following intersectional mechanisms that reproduce health inequities: (1) navigating diversity, (2) gender-relatedloneliness, (3) hidden challenges, and (4) challenging assumptions. We conclude that upon discharge home care recipients withABI and a migration background fall into a lonely state of being, often with a lack of social support and experience fnancialdifculties. Care recipients disappear out of the healthcare system’ sight and are unable to fnd their way back. Diversity-responsive health care begins with a critical awareness of health inequities and the underlying mechanisms among professionals,healthcare institutions, and policy.