When elders in healthcare are able to practise and pass on the traditions and rituals of their culture to younger generations, it brings great benefits. This is the view of Thérese Nleng from the Network of Organisations for Older Migrants. Researcher Lara Fizaine says: 'In the colonial past, rituals and traditions were not tolerated.'
What does culture-specific care mean to you?
Thérese Nleng: 'To put it very simply: if someone from a different cultural background goes to the doctor and says, "My leg hurts", they might actually be referring specifically to pain in their little toe. This requires the healthcare provider to ask follow-up questions, and if they don’t, misunderstandings arise. This is about culture-specific language and context, and much more attention should be paid to this.'
Lara Fizaine: 'I prefer to call it group-specific care. In my research, I’ve looked closely at the word "culture" and how its use can sometimes be problematic. When you talk about culture, for example, you’re referring to eating habits or spiritual needs.
For patients with a migrant background, it’s about more than just care needs arising from their cultural background. It’s about access to care, about systems and structures within which they cannot find their way, because, for example, they don’t speak the language or don’t know where to ask for help. Or, conversely, the system cannot adapt to make itself accessible to these groups.'
Bio
Thérese Nleng is the national coordinator at Netwerk NOOM (Network for Organisations of Older Migrants). The network works to improve the (income) situation and well-being of the rapidly growing and highly diverse group of older migrants in the Netherlands.
Lara Fizaine studied Social Policy and Public Health and is conducting PhD research at Leyden Academy into diversity policies and practices in elderly care. She is also a visiting researcher at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) and Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Is there a difference here between the older and younger generations?
Nleng: 'I always refer to the older generation as the "silent sufferers". In most cultures or communities, you see that older people find it difficult to say they are experiencing certain symptoms. They don’t want to be a burden on the generations below them. In contrast, the younger generation – the internet generation – has already looked up what’s going on before they visit their GP.
The generation in between – aged 35 to 55 – we call the bridge generation. They play a very different role. On the one hand, they are familiar with the rituals and traditions carried over by that first generation, but they find it difficult to relate to them because they have become westernised. This also plays a part in their informal caregiving. They look after both their parents and their children and, through these roles, often forming the bridge to the Dutch care system.'
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Want to read more? Download the latest white paper (in Dutch) from Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities on the dilemmas of diversity.
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