Responding to Black African immigrant parents of children with disabilities in Irish Early Intervention Services: parental experiences and professional perspectives in the search for culturally competent practice
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Date
2023
Authors
Jingwa, Ndemazia Asonglefack
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Publisher
University College Cork
Published Version
Abstract
There has been growing concern in recent years about how health and social care services in Ireland can respond appropriately to the needs of an increasingly diverse population. Internationally, literature demonstrates that immigrant families experience significant discrimination and racism in many areas of their life, including access to services, but we know less about these experiences in the Irish context.
This research explores how black African immigrant parents of children with disabilities (from Nigeria, Cameroon and South Africa) in Ireland understand and experience accessing and engaging with Early Intervention Services; and how health and social care professionals respond to and engage with these families. It also explores the barriers and challenges experienced by families and indeed professionals, and specifically interrogates the concept of cultural competence in terms of its potential to offer a route to culturally responsive professional practice.
The research took a qualitative approach based on constructionism. It used semi-structured audio-taped interviews to explore the experiences of ten parents and ten professionals. Purposive sampling was utilised. Interviews were transcribed, anonymised, coded and analysed through an inductive thematic analytic approach.
Research findings indicate that parental service experiences are influenced by their cultural perceptions of disability and expectations for their child with a disability. While findings reveal parent appreciation for services being provided for their child, they also reveal tension and ambivalence in parent-professional relationships. The complexities of intersecting identities, compounded by unfamiliarity with the health care system, and other structural challenges are seen as influencing parental interaction with services.
In conclusion, the research suggests that the concept of cultural competence in its current form is inadequate to respond effectively to the needs of African immigrant families, and that professionals do not feel adequately equipped and supported to engage in culturally competent practice. Drawing on insights from intersectionality theory, the research proposes a synergistic relationship between cultural competence and intersectionality to create the process of intersectional cultural competence.
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Keywords
Disability , African , Immigrant families , Children , Early Intervention Services , Cultural competence , Intersectionality , Discrimination , Racism
Citation
Jingwa, N. A. 2023. Responding to Black African immigrant parents of children with disabilities in Irish Early Intervention Services: parental experiences and professional perspectives in the search for culturally competent practice. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.