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The purpose of this study was to describe the care needs of adult traumatized refugees and asylum seekers. DESIGN AND METHODS. A mixed-methods design was used. A survey was conducted using the Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN) among 30 patients. Semistructured in-depth interviews were subsequently conducted with eight of these patients. FINDINGS. Key themes among refugees are loneliness and grief. Refugees are in severe psychological distress. They also encounter all kinds of practical problems that influence their quality of life. Furthermore, many of them suffer from serious psychiatric and trauma-related problems. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS. The results of this explorative study can contribute to the quality of care for traumatized refugees.
In the Netherlands and Europe, there exist approaches to refugee (re)settlement where asylum seekers face long waiting periods, in large-scale centres often isolated from Dutch society, with little-to-no opportunity to structure their day or participate in activities which bring meaning to their lives. These activities, which bring meaning people’s lives are termed occupations in the occupational therapy and occupation science literature. When the context hinders the opportunity to engage in these meaningful occupations, one experiences a situation of occupational injustice. These approaches taken in the Netherland and internationally creates the state of occupation injustice, this lack of ability to engage in meaningful activities, and this is turn has been documented to have negative effects on refugees health, well-being, identity and eventual inclusion in society.Parallel to these standard approaches in the Netherlands, are alternative approaches to refugee resettlement and integration. These alternatives are oftenbeing facilitated by charities, community-based organizations and citizen initiatives. Alternative programs currently aim to counter the government programs and focus on safe passages, for vulnerable populations, with an emphasis on early inclusion in society, community placement, sponsorship, and integration from the time of arrival. These alternative programs claim to address the issues of lack of meaningful engagement and isolation as currently seen in standard procedures, thereby claiming to improve integration, inclusion and wellbeing.This research aims to explore the lives and experiences of both the individuals living in, as well as the individuals facilitating these alternative programs. The research will explore how these programs are situated in and/or actively negotiating the broader context of refugee programs and policies in the Netherlands. This exploration will include the perspectives of the multiple actors involved, including service users and service providers, using a participatory methodology.Through exploring the perspectives on alternative programs through a participatory evaluation format, we are able to explore these programs as they are described, evaluated and experienced by theservices users themselves. This allows for a grounded understanding of the programs and their further potential.
Populists deny the problems we face ecologically and pass them on to the next generations. In this article I discuss 4 populist statements 1. The Netherlands for the Dutch, 2. The “ordinary” Dutch person is entitled to his/her prosperity, 3. The Netherlands is full, no more asylum seekers and 4. Our national level of education is superior - I will contradict it here, light of the numbers. I conclude that the figures and statistics show that these claims cannot hold up at all with the available evidence.
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