ABSTRACT
Deaf and hard of hearing refugees often need specialized care, and in dealing with this vulnerable target group, communication and cultural background play key roles. Various regulations in the Netherlands make it hard for both refugees and organizations, such as the Mental Healthcare and Social Services organization (hence: MHSS), to locate each other and find or provide specialized care, respectively. This results in deaf and hard of hearing refugees spending years in isolation. This case study unravels challenges and collects expert insights. It presents advice for the MHSS on how to work around the different obstacles and improve the support system. This particular case study has an interesting twofold intercultural dimension, namely Dutch culture versus the refugee’s native culture, and hearing culture versus deaf culture. For this qualitative research semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven experts. Multiple recommendations were highlighted, which will be explored in the case study.
